I Just Want to go Home
by Midnight523
Summary: When one of their own is taken, Team Five will do anything in their power to get her back. But this begins to seem like more than these teens can handle, especially as complications arise. Will these teens be able to rally and convince themselves that they can do this? Or will they give up and fall? And can Snips hang on long enough for her team to find her?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello my lovely, awesome readers!**

**Guess what? It's officially summer for me! Yea! And with that, that means more time for me to do what I love: write! Before I continue, I shall also say this: if you haven't read my other story, The Secrets We Carry, I urge you to do so. Because otherwise, this will all be very confusing. Also, reading Letting Go will help in a later chapter, just so you know. ****J**

**So, I've been getting quite a few messages asking me if I was going to do another story that featured Team Five, and I shall say this: Yes! I also got quite a few that said asked for Snips whump/agony, Sam whump, and some Red/Ninja time. Wow. You guys and your whump. Well, I think that I've got it down. We'll see.**

**I've got this story about maybe halfway finished, and have the entire idea mapped out; I just need to get it down on paper. So I will hopefully be able to update at least every week. That gives me time to edit and get in whatever ideas you guys want to happen (if I can, but I won't know if you don't review!)**

**Without further ado, I give you: I just want to go home. Also, none of anything you recognize belongs to me.**

"Dean, have you seen Snips?"

Sarge looked up at his father and shook his head. "She was supposed to be here half an hour ago," he admitted. "No one's heard from her."

Sergeant Parker scratched his head. "Not even Ninja?" Dean shook his head. The older man placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine. Probably just forgot what time it is."

Sarge gave him a disbelieving look, but at that moment Whiz and Wheels burst in. "Sarge!" they exclaimed. They looked at each other and Wheels continued. "You're going to want to see this."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Snips had been going on her morning jog when she heard the yelling. She was heading towards the SRU building; Ninja had already taken her bag in the car. She had wanted to run. She looked at her watch; she had some time. Curious, she headed towards the screaming.

Coming up to the large crowd, she could immediately see what the problem was. A young girl, no more than thirteen, was on the other side of a roped off bridge, looking ready to jump. She thumbed off a quick text but was already pushing her way through the crowd. It would take awhile for any SRU team to respond, and this girl looked to be at the breaking point already.

She ignored the people who were yelling at the girl in favor of taking on a softer voice when she finally reached the would-be jumper. "Hey," she said softly. The girl turned to face her. "I'm Lucia." The girl made no move to respond. "What's your name?"

Inside, she was freaking out. She was bad at negotiations; it was her worst subject at the SRU. She was a better tactician. This was Sarge's department, or maybe Red's. Not hers. But there was no choice right now, and finally, the girl responded, "Emily."

"It's nice to meet you, Emily," Snips said, friendly. "What are you doing?"

Emily looked at her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it was, and responded, "Trying to decide when to jump."

"How about never?" Snips said jokingly, taking another step closer to Amy. "You could just come back over here; it's not too late." Emily looked slightly disbelieving, and Snips continued. "I'm serious, Emily. I can't pretend to know what you're going through, but I know that there has to be a better way to handle it than suicide."

Out of the corner of her eye she could vaguely see a news van come, and it took every ounce of self-control not to roll her eyes. People would call the news, but no one calls the cops? She could use some backup right now. Emily noticed them, too, and noticed her new friend's not-quite-concealed disgust. "Not friends of yours?"

Snips shook her head. "Nah. Not a huge fan of news vans, to be quite honest. Never want to do anything to help."

"They do help keep us all updated on what's going on in the world," Emily pointed out.

Snips had finally made it to the edge of the bridge. She leaned against the railing that was there. "Yeah, I know," she acquiesced. "It's just, in situations like these, they seem more like a hindrance than a help, you know?"

Emily looked at her. "You've been in situations like this a lot?"

Snips shrugged. "Kind of. I'm on Team Five of the SRU. It's the cadet program, basically. My team calls me Snips."

"Snips?"

She shrugged. "Apparently I have a snippy attitude. Not quite sure where they got that idea, to be honest."

Emily giggled. Snips looked at her carefully. "Why don't you tell me what's going on, Emily? What are you doing here?"

Emily looked away. "I just needed it to stop," she admitted finally. "I'm just done with everything."

"Everything like what?"

"The bullying, mostly. I just—" she broke off for a second before continuing. "I'm not pretty like most girls, Lucia. People are always saying I'm fat and clumsy and useless. They keep telling me I should die."

Snips closed her eyes for the briefest of seconds. "I know what I'm about to say is impossible, Emily, but don't listen to them. They are so wrong. You are a beautiful young girl who has your entire life ahead of you. I just know that you can go on to do amazing things if you'll just give yourself a chance."

Emily shook her head. "You don't know me."

"So tell me about yourself, then," Snips challenged. "Let me know you."

The girl shrugged, sort of helplessly. "I don't know what to say."

"Okay. Start with your family."

In the background, the college student could hear a reporter saying, "This is Marissa Brookes, coming to you live by the Leaside Bridge, where one girl is trying to talk down another from jumping to her death off the bridge. Does anyone know their names?"

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Sarge watched with the rest of his team as Snips tried to talk a young girl from apparent suicide. She was leaning against the railing, looking like it was just like any other conversation. The reporter had somehow managed to get Snips' name (her actual name, not the nickname) and was reporting, looking somewhat gleeful that she got the chance to witness this.

Sarge and Ninja glanced at each other as Snips climbed over the rail and placed her hand on top of the girl's wrist gently. It might seem like a comforting gesture to most, and while it probably was, it also doubled as a safety measure, in case the girl tried to jump. The problem was, Snips wasn't wearing a safety harness, and if the girl jumped, Snips could go over with her. "Dad, should we go back her up?"

Sergeant Parker shook his head. "Look," he said. She's starting to come over."

Indeed, they all watched as the girl began to climb over the barrier with the help of her new friend. Everyone let out a breath of relief as she did, but it quickly turned to horror as the girl missed a step and fell, Snips going right over with her.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Snips could hear people yelling as Emily started falling. She grabbed on tightly, hoping to protect the girl, but Emily had gravity on her side. Snips was slowly going over the edge of the bridge. "Let go," Emily cried. "Just let go."

"Not happening." Snips gritted her teeth, securing her hand more tightly around the girl's wrist. She could feel herself slipping, though, and grabbed at Emily as she fell off. With one hand around Emily's wrist, she grabbed desperately for something, _anything_ that could stop their fall. Just when she thought she was going to fall, she managed to curl her fingers around one of the railings underneath the bridge.

The two girls jerked and dangled, Snips taking on the full weight of Emily, who was now crying quietly. "I'm sorry," she cried. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Snips grunted. "I needed to work on weight-lifting today, anyway." She felt a twinge of satisfaction as her young friend let out a strangled laugh. Snips looked up to see people staring down in amazement and horror. They cried out for them to hold on. Some dashed off, hopefully to get rope or something, as others stayed and watched, calling out encouragement. Snips could also see the camera pointed at them. "Great," she grumbled. Then she said, "Emily?"

"Yeah?"

"I need you to listen to me very carefully. I'm going to lift you up so that you can grab onto this railing, too, okay? I need you to reach out and grab it as soon as you can. You'll be safer that way." _And I won't accidently let go and kill us both._ She could feel her grip loosen on the railing and tightened it with what little strength she had left. "Sound good?"

"Yeah." Emily's voice was quivering, and Snips knew that she was running on pure adrenaline right now.

"Okay. Here we go." Because she could only use one hand, it was a very slow process. But finally, Emily's hands were able to wrap around the railing right next to her savior's. Snips brought her other hand up to the railing and hung on tightly. "Okay. Don't let go, okay?" Emily nodded. Snips looked up. "Do you have any rope up there?" she yelled.

"Hang on!" someone called back. "Someone's making a loop in one now, and we're going to send it down!" Sure enough, pretty soon a rope was making its way down to the girls. Snips reached out and grabbed it. "Okay, Emily, I need you to let go with one hand and put it through this loop," she instructed. Emily did as she asked. "Good. Now, put your other arm through. Great." She looked up. "Pull her up!"

Emily looked at her as she was lifted to the top of the bridge. Snips smiled at her reassuringly. Lots of people must have been helping because soon enough, the rope was back down again. Snips did the same thing that she ordered Emily to do and told them she was ready. A few seconds later, she was on her hand and knees, trying to get her breathing to calm down. "You okay?"

Emily could only nod, tears filling her eyes. "Hey," Snips said, sitting next to her. "Don't be like that. Just think of the adventure you had today! You got to go bungee jumping!"

Emily looked at her strangely. "I didn't have a bungee cord," she pointed out.

Snips grinned. "Exactly. What a daredevil you are!"

Emily couldn't help but laugh sort of helplessly. While both were catching their breath, the news reporter was coming up and trying to talk with them. Snips looked up and said a simple "No comment." Of course, this didn't keep the reporter from trying, but Snips ignored her and turned to her new friend. "You have a phone?" she asked.

Emily nodded and pulled it out, passing it to the SRU officer (cadet, officer…whatever) who grabbed it. She quickly turned to contacts and thumbed in her info. "Here," she said, returning it. "If you ever need someone to talk to, just text or call me. Whatever time of day, I promise I'll answer." She held up a hand to Emily's feeble protest. "Just text me. It's under Lucia." She stood up, offering her hand to the younger teen. "You don't have to go through this alone."

"Thanks," Emily whispered.

Snips just grinned at her, and then turned to block her from the camera. "Enough," she said sharply. "Leave this poor girl alone. You drive people mad, you know that?"

The camera lady kept smiling. "I hear your name is Lucia," she said in response. "How did you know what to do to save this young girl?" She turned to Emily, obviously expecting to get a name. Snips just turned and mouthed, 'go home', to which Emily obeyed without question. Snips began walking. "Wait!" The reporter kept following her. Snips remembered hearing that her name was Marissa Brookes. "We just want to talk!"

"Not interested."

Brookes ran in front of the young adult, halting her in her tracks. "You can't honestly just pretend that none of that just happened!" she cried, astounded.

"I'm not," Snips replied easily. "But it was none of your business, so I don't have to talk about it with you."

She tried walking around the camera people, but again was stopped. She kept herself from rolling her eyes as Brookes continued, "The people of Toronto have a right to know what happened here."

Snips raised an eyebrow. "Do the people of Toronto have a right to privacy, as well?" she asked sarcastically.

Brookes looked confused. "Of course."

Snips nodded. "Good. And since that girl was a citizen of Toronto, then that means that she has a right to privacy, as well. Good day." This time she didn't let the television people stop her as she pushed past.

She could hear Brookes following her, trying to get her to answer more questions. She sighed, but didn't let her annoyance show. She was a professional (kind of) and she couldn't lose her cool on live TV. Sarge would never forgive her. Even if these people didn't know she was part of Team Five, others did, and she had to keep up their reputation. So she only allowed herself to roll her eyes when she knew the people and camera couldn't see her.

She walked for a good five minutes, and yet these people were still following her. She _really_ didn't want them to know where she worked. Narrowing her eyes, she began to calculate the best was to lose her annoying tails and the fastest way to work. She only had a half-mile left before she was there.

She recalled what her tails were wearing: Brookes was wearing heels, and a tight mini-skirt with an even tighter blouse. Her blonde shoulder-length hair framed her face. That woman was not used to running and was in no way going to be able to keep up with Snips if she took off right now. The cameraman was wearing plainer clothes, but he was also carrying around a very heavy camera. He was also slightly overweight and didn't look like he enjoyed running. Besides, he would have to drop the camera to even hope catching up to her.

She eyed the streets around her. She knew the area very well, thanks to her runs, even the back streets and alleys that no one else dared to venture down. She could do this.

Without so much as a warning to the TV people, she took off. Brookes was still bombarding her with questions and didn't even notice until a second after it happened. "Wait! Come back!" she called out. She turned to her cameraman. "Tony! Go get her!"

Snips missed this entire exchange, missed the way Tony began arguing that there was no way he would be able to run after her and keep the camera rolling. Missed the way that Brookes nearly screamed in frustration. She bolted down the alleyway, turned left, and moved down the side street. She knew they weren't going to follow, but she ran anyway.

She hated reporters.

**Well, I hope you enjoy this first chapter. I know, I know, it doesn't seem like much happens, but this actually plays a huge part (kind of) to the rest of my story. Please review and tell me what you think, if there are things you want included, etc! I love reviews! So does Team Five! Please please please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello my lovely readers!**

**Well, it seems that I will try to be updating on Fridays for you guys. Lovely, isn't it? Well, I'm not sure what else to say except to respond to ****Ealasaid Una****: Yes, Team One will be in this fic, probably a bit more than my last story (hopefully), but I've found that as much as I absolutely ****_adore_**** Team One, I'm pretty horrible at writing their characters. I don't want to destroy their characters, so I've created some of my own to play with. We will definitely have some of Team One.**

**Disclaimer: Flashpoint and all characters do not belong to me (sadness)**

**Onward to Chapter 2!**

"A bridge?"

Snips watched with one eyebrow raised as her boss/boyfriend paced back and forth in front of her. She could tell that he was furious with her, but she really couldn't care less. She knew what she had done was risky, it was stupid without back up, but it was also completely worth it. Emily had been on the verge of jumping and all those idiots wouldn't be able to stop her. So she did what she was trained to do; she saved lives.

"A _bridge_?"

"You already said that," Snips pointed out reasonably. She quieted a bit as Sarge turned his furious gaze on her. She sighed, as he didn't seem to calm down. "She was about to jump, Dean," she said softly. "You know I could never turn away from that."

His glare softened a bit as he sat down across from her. "I know," he agreed wearily. "It was just really dangerous for you to do it without back up. You fell off a bridge. You almost _died_, Lu."

"But I didn't," she said brightly. "And neither did Emily. We're both happy and healthy ready to face the day. Just a wonderful way to wake up, don't you think?"

A grin slipped through his mask as he shook his head. "Wow," he said. "Your continued optimistic view is truly astounding."

She shrugged and grinned. "I try." She stood up and went to her boss. "We finished, Sarge?" They had already gone through the debriefing before Sarge began ranting on about how she almost died, she had no back up, etc. She had watched the whole spectacle with great interest. It had been a long time since someone berated her for doing something dangerous. Usually Kyle was joining her on her escapades, and the triplets and Justin trusted their oldest siblings to be careful and come home safely. Cal and Drake never even _knew_ about some of the dangerous stunts that she and Kyle had pulled. So it was fascinating to watch someone yell at her for not being careful. Kind of refreshing.

He shook his head (he had a tendency to do that a lot, Snips noticed) and said, "Yeah, Snips. We're done."

"Cool. Now," she said briskly, rubbing her hands, "what plans do we have for today?"

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Truly remarkable," she commented.

The man sitting next to her swished around his drink, regarding the TV with interest. "Do you think she'll be a good candidate?"

The woman nodded slowly. "I think she would truly be a show to watch. She's strong, that much is apparent. And she seems to have almost no self-preservation. She'll be perfect."

He nodded and stood, setting down his drink. "I'll go locate her, then," he said. "Hopefully will be back within a couple of days."

"Jason," she called. He stopped and turned to watch her. "She could make us a lot of money. If she doesn't want to come here at first, make sure to convince her." He nodded and left.

The woman turned back to the TV. "Truly remarkable," she said again.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

It was a week after the bridge incident and Team Five was back in action. They assisted in a hot call that day; a disgruntled employee was holding his former boss hostage and demanding more money from him. Team Five watched and occasionally offered ideas when asked as Team One talked him.

Team Five worked effortlessly; their time spent away from each other during school and work had not in the least disrupted the fluency they had as a team. They were still able to work together to the point where it almost seemed like they were reading each other's minds. Sarge and Snips were still a great command team; the others still great at reading between the lines.

"Nicely done, guys," Sergeant Parker told the younger team. The tired teens beamed up at him. It had been a good day. No one had gotten hurt, the employee had been caught, and there were no more hot calls.

Team Five spent the rest of the day trying to plan around school schedules to when they could come in. So far, most of them were able to come in at least Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. Hopefully they could also do weekends as they headed into the beginning of the second semester.

"Hey, Lu!"

Snips turned around and waited patiently for her brother. "What's up?"

He jerked his thumb and Snips followed with her eyes. Wheels stood on the other side of the pointed finger. "Wheels and Sharp came up with the idea to go to Laser Quest. Think the team would like it?"

"What about the boys?"

Ninja rolled his eyes. "They're at the Wordsworths, of course. I wouldn't be surprised if they just moved in, they spend so much time there."

"They do love Shelley and the girls," Wordy commented from behind Snips. She didn't react to his presence; she had known he was there.

"Sure," she shrugged. "Let's go ask everyone else." As Ninja ran off to do just that, Snips turned to Wordy. "Would you guys like to join us, sir?" she asked. It was more than just being polite, too. Teams One and Five against each other would be an awesome game.

He shook his head. "Nah," he replied. "We were all thinking of going to the Goose after our shift. Have fun, though."

She shrugged as he left and then turned to face the rest of her team. They were all waiting, all having gotten permission from their parents already to hang out. She shouldered her pack. "Ready?" They nodded. "Cool. Are we driving or walking?"

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Die! You're dead! Hahaha!" Whiz jumped up and down with excitement as he shot his boss straight in the chest. He ran off and ducked through the maze before Sarge's weapon came back online.

Sarge just shook his head and ran off before anyone else could shoot him. Snips smirked and turned to Sharp, her temporary ally. "What do you say?" she asked.

He grinned at her. "Get him within my sights, and I'll take him out," he promised. Snips grinned back wickedly and ran off.

They had gotten lucky when they arrived at Laser Quest. A large group who had rented out the building for the night had decided that they were done and were heading out. When they saw Team Five walking in, they recognized them from the news of the hostage situation earlier and offered for them to use the Laser Quest for the rest of the time that the group had rented out; they had a whole hour to do as they pleased.

Sharp watched the havoc unfold below him. Snips had tapped Sarge teasingly on the shoulder before flitting out of his reach. He turned his gun on her, but she whipped around a corner and dodged it. He chased after her, and she led him away, leading him straight into Sharp's waiting fire.

Sarge looked down at his now deactivated weapon and vest. "Really? How did you even manage that? You didn't lift your gun at all!"

Snips winked at him. "I'm a strategist, Sarge," she replied mischievously. "A tactician. This is what I do." With that she darted away, dodging the laser Sharp now shot at her and sending up one in kind. He ducked, and when he looked up again, she had disappeared.

They all continued playing around, laughing and shrieking with joy. With school and work, their chances at just hanging out grew slimmer and slimmer. So they took this moment for all it was worth.

Snips was hiding behind a wall, Red in her sights, when her phone began buzzing. She pulled it out and looked at the caller id and sighed. Ninja came up beside her. "You leaving?"

She shrugged. "Don't know. I'll come back in and let you know when I find out."

He nodded and shot Red as she left the fun. She went outside to the front entrance, needing some fresh air. "This is Lucia," she said into the phone.

_"__Hey, Lu. Sorry to call you on your day off, but I was wondering if you could come in today for a couple of hours?" _Tony Marris, manager of one of the many restaurants in Toronto, asked, sounding apologetic. _"Lisa and Marcus both called in sick, and I'm having trouble getting in touch with some of the others. Do you mind? We'll pay you extra for coming in on your off-day."_

"Well now, when you put it like that, how could I refuse?" she grinned. "I'll be there in ten."

_"__You're the best, Lu."_

"Don't forget it," she laughed. She hung up and walked back into the building, beginning to take off her vest and putting laser gun back in its place. Ninja came out to join her.

"You leaving?" he asked again.

She nodded. "Sorry, kiddo. They have two sick and aren't able to reach anyone else right now. Plus, they're paying me extra."

He walked with her to the door. "You know I can take on another job," he pointed out softly.

Money was becoming a slight issue in their family. Neither wanted to admit as much to their teammates, not because they were proud, but because they hated charity. Okay, so maybe they were a bit proud. Snips was working three jobs as well as going to school, and Ninja was working one. Their bosses were good to them and gave them way over minimum wage. They pulled extra shifts and were always ready to work if called. The triplets were even picking up some part-time jobs, mostly with coaching some people or tutoring.

Snips smiled at her little brother. "Nah. It's your junior year of high school. Focus on that. You should be having fun. You also are already tutoring people as well as your official job. That's more than enough. Have some fun." He shook his head as she gently pushed him in the direction of their teammates. "Go," she ordered. "Have fun. Shoot Sarge for me."

He grinned and opened the door. "See you later, Lu."

"See ya, bud," she replied.

She walked out the door and towards her car, unlocking it. She had almost made it in when she heard, "Lucia Macculloh?"

Turning, she faced the person that had come up behind her. He was tall, almost six feet, and looked to be in his mid-thirties. "Can I help you?" she asked politely. She was taking in everything about him, wondering how he knew her name.

"Actually, it's something I can do to help _you_." She frowned at him and he continued. "My employer and I witnessed your amazing rescue of that young girl on the bridge. We noticed that you must be amazingly strong to have held up that girl for so long underneath the bridge, and wanted to offer you the chance at making a bit of money."

"What?" Snips was truly confused. How did they want to make her money? More importantly, _why_?

The strange man continued. "You see, my employer runs this type of—" he seemed to be searching for the word "web show and we wish to feature you in it." Snips said nothing, just raised her eyebrow at him. "We bring in fighters from all over the country," he explained. "We think you would be a credit to us. And we would pay you handsomely for it."

"Not interested." Snips turned back to her car.

"You would be rich and famous. Surely you could use the money?" the man pursued.

Snips turned around and faced him, eyes hard. "I don't fight for money," she retorted. "There might be times where I need to fight, but I don't do it for money."

The man nodded. "You fight for survival."

At this point, all of Snips' senses were screaming at her that this man was bad news. "If you'll excuse me," she said, "my boss is expecting me at work."

She didn't have time to react before the man had his gun out and pointed at her. "Text him," he ordered. "Tell him you ran into some issues. You won't be able to go into work today."

Snips raised her hands in a placating gesture. "You don't—" she began, but was cut off.

"Text him _now._" The gun was unwavering, pointed straight at her chest. He doesn't want to kill me, Snips realized. If her mystery man shot her now, she wouldn't die, but she would still be severely injured. And they would probably still want her to fight.

If they wanted her to fight, then she could buy some time. "Okay," she agreed. She slowly pulled out her phone and began texting Tony.

"I want to see it before you send it," he ordered.

She nodded and continued texting, then handed the phone over to him. She had suspected as much. He took it, gun still on her, and looked it over.

_T- family emergency came up. Won't be able to make it to work. Sorry and stay frosty!_

"Stay frosty?" her gunman asked.

Snips shrugged. "He's the manager at an ice cream parlor," she explained. The restaurant _did_ serve big bowls of ice cream. "We always say it."

The gunman nodded, satisfied, and hit send. After, he dropped the phone and crushed it under his foot. Snips winced. Those phones cost a lot of money. During all of this the gun never wavered. Finally, the gunman looked at her. "Time to go."

She never had a chance to yell for her friends. He leaped at her, swinging his gun sideways against her head. She didn't even have time to raise her hands or fight back. Soon, she was blacking out, hoping desperately that her friends would find her soon.

**So, I told you that bridge scene plays out (kinda…). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please please ****_please _****review! I love reviews! They inspire me! And if you want something to happen, tell me and it might actually happen (if I can write it!)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey all! I told you I'd be updating Fridays, didn't I? Well, here I am! Now we find out what's going to happen with Snips and the rest of her team. I hope you all enjoy!**

**Also, a shout out to Ealasaid Una, who has never failed to leave a review for me. You rock!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Flashpoint**

Ninja expertly shot off his teammates one by one, only being stopped when Wheels and Sharp worked together to take him down. They all laughed as every single person was deactivated for a few minutes. Soon, Ninja felt his own phone vibrating. He brought it out and looked at surprise at the caller id. "What's up, Tony?"

Sarge looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Who's Tony?"

Everyone on Team Five looked at their ninja with concern as his face became tight with worry. "What do you mean, weird text? She's not there?" He put Marris on speaker.

_"__One moment she said she would be here in ten minutes, the next she's sending me this weird text saying that she had a family emergency. The thing is, Kyle, she never calls me T. She barely even began calling me Tony."_

Ninja's voice was calm, thought his face betrayed his worry. "What exactly did the text say, Tony?"

_"__I wrote it down, hang on. Okay, it says 'T- family emergency came up. Won't be able to make it work. Sorry and stay frosty'. Why would she tell me to stay frosty?"_

At the last two words everyone's faces paled and they all bolted to the outside. They shoved their way frantically past the confused workers and flew the door open.

Snips' car was still there, and her phone laid smashed right next to it. Next to it also were her keys, credit cards, id, and her pen that when flipped properly turned into a staff. They had also taken away her pocketknife. Anything that could possibly be a weapon or could be used to tell where she was was here. "Tony, when did that text get there?" Ninja demanded.

"I just got it five minutes ago," he supplied immediately. "What's going on, Kyle?"

"Sorry, Tony, I'll have to call you back." Ninja ended the call and raced back inside right behind Whiz, who went up and demanded to see the security cameras for outside.

The man behind the register shook his head. "Sorry, guys, those cameras are just for show. They don't work."

They all stared at him and then bolted out to their cars. Only Whiz stayed behind, ordering the men to close down the place and not to let anyone in. Then he asked to see what security cameras they did have that would work.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"DAD!" Sarge and Wheels yelled together as they raced through the SRU building. Instead of Sergeant Parker or Constable Lane, Donna and the rest of Team Three came through the workout room doors to see what was going on.

"They're at the Goose," Donna explained. "We're on shift. What's up?"

Wheels looked at his boss to explain. "Snips was taken," Sarge informed them breathlessly. "Someone must've grabbed her about fifteen minutes ago. They broke her phone and left it, along with her keys and credit card and pocketknife and staff-pen."

Donna raised an eyebrow; trying to absorb all the information they were giving her. Her boss let her deal with it, since she knew the boys better. "Do you think they knew her pen turned into a staff?" she asked as she headed towards Kira.

"Probably not," Ninja answered. "She's never showed anyone except us and the boys. They probably just took it off of her because you can hurt people with pens. Why does that matter?"

"Trying to decide if it was a random abduction or if someone knew her," Donna replied. Team Five nodded. It made sense, but it was also unimportant. No one knew about her staff-pen except for the selected few that she trusted deeply. "Kira, let us know immediately if Snips or someone calling for Lucia calls, okay?"

Kira nodded, frowning. "What's going on?"

Donna didn't answer, instead turning back to the young team. "Are there any videos of her abduction? How are you sure she was taken?"

"You mean besides all of her stuff left broken in the parking lot?" Ninja asked sarcastically. Donna let it go as she turned to him. She knew the young teen was worried for his sister. "Her boss called us after she sent him a weird text message. It said stay frosty."

"The security cameras outside of Laser Quest are for show," Wheels added. "Whiz stayed behind to see if there were any working cameras that could get an angle."

"All right," Sergeant Donnelly said. "We'll put out an Amber alert on her and we're also going to head over to the site. Let's go."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Snips woke with a start, trying to place what was going on. She couldn't quite remember what had happened but she knew she wasn't at home or at the SRU. Then it hit her. The guy with the gun, the text, the offer to fight for money. She kept her breathing deep and even. She didn't want her captor to know that she had woken up yet, if they didn't know already. She wanted to see if she could find out some more information.

Her senses came to her slowly as she strained to find out what on earth was going on. She heard nothing, though, and when she tried to move, found that her hands were made immobile by the ropes that bound them. She finally gave up the pretense of still being unconscious when she was certain there was no one else in the room. She looked around.

A barely furnished room greeted her tired eyes. She was on the only bed; her wrists were bound behind her. She struggled to sit up. In one of the corners was a dresser; a small bathroom was attached in one of the corners. There was also a closet and a small punching bag. She felt dread as she looked at the punching bag. Did they want her to train with it?

She was on her feet instantly as someone came into the room. It was the same man who had kidnapped her. He stared at her, obviously expecting her to say something along the lines of 'who are you' and 'where am I' but she said nothing. She just stared at him calmly, waiting to find out what would happen next. She could beat all of her brothers and teammates in staring contests; this guy didn't stand a chance.

Finally he cleared his throat. "We haven't been properly introduced," he said. He sounding apologetic, but Snips wasn't fooled. This man had held a gun to her chest and was telling her she had to fight. She didn't like him. At all. "My name is Jason. I'll be your trainer."

"My _what_?" Her voice was icy. It was a tone she rarely used, one she usually reserved for the triplets when they pulled a really dangerous or stupid prank.

"Well, not your trainer," Jason amended quickly. Snips raised an eyebrow. "I'll be the one overseeing your fights, making sure you know about your opponent and making sure that you have everything you need." He looked at her, and she was a bit surprised (though she never showed it) to see that there was the tiniest spark of fear in his eyes, as well as a little bit of respect. What had she done to deserve it? "Is there anything you require right now?"

"Being untied would be a good way to start," she said calmly. If this man was to be her…overseer it would be better to get off on good terms. She didn't want to lose her one possible ally just because she couldn't keep her head and wanted to scream at him for taking her in the first place.

"Sure, kid." She didn't try to protest that she wasn't a kid. The way she saw it, if these people saw her as a kid, they would see her as someone who needed to be protected. Maybe they would see her as someone who needed to go home. Unless, of course, their other fighters were also teenagers. She hoped not.

She stood still as he cut the rope binding her wrists and stepped back. She rubbed them, trying to get the blood flowing, all the while observing this man calmly. He seemed unnerved by her constant stare. "Anything else?" he asked, already inching towards the door.

"I need to go home," she said softly.

He shook his head. "Sorry, kid. Can't do that. Don't worry though; you'll be well paid. I'll come back when I know about your first fight." He shut the door and she was left alone again.

"I just want to go home," she said to the empty room.

**Well, hopefully this catches all your attention. Do you like it? Hate it? Think this is too strange? Want me to run with something else? You know the best way to tell me? REVIEW! I have come to find that I absolutely ****_adore_**** reviews! If you review, I'll make you an imaginary brownie! Thank you to all the favorites and follows, but please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, my awesome readers, it is that time again. Friday has arrived once more, and so has another chapter. I hope you all enjoy Chapter 4!**

**Disclaimer: I really don't own Flashpoint or any of it's characters…are you really that surprised?**

Ninja slammed his hand on the wall in frustration. There was nothing on the security cameras; they didn't work. Sergeant Donnelly ignored him for the moment. The boy had just lost his sister; she had disappeared right outside the building he and the rest of his team were inside. The rest of the team was also quietly frustrated. They all felt, no doubt, somewhat responsible for what had happened.

"All right, Team Five—I want you to head back to the barn. We'll be there shortly." Ninja looked like he was about to protest, but Sarge and Red grabbed his arms and he turned away without a word. Donnelly and Sabine watched them go.

"What are we doing, Boss?" Donna asked quietly.

Donnelly sighed. "Put out that Amber Alert. See if anyone can remember seeing Snips. With this whole Team Five and that bridge scene last week, people are going to know her. We'll see if anyone can recall seeing her anywhere. Maybe some witness will come forward and say they saw the entire kidnapping take place."

"And if none of that works?" asked his team leader.

He rubbed the back of his head. "We hope we get a ransom call." They both knew this was very unlikely. While many officers could be taken by enemies of their past, Snips' enemies should be in prison right now. If these people that took her didn't see her as an officer, but as a child, then they could only have 24 hours to find her.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Immediately after returning to the station, Ninja vanished. Sarge found him in the workout room, beating the crap out of their punching bag. The teen was twisting, moving, punching, _dancing_ around the bag. He was incredibly graceful while fighting, Sarge noticed. He was even more graceful when he and Snips were fighting. They knew each other's moves so well that they didn't even have to stop and think about their next attack. They just moved. Again, Sarge wondered where they had learned to fight like that, to fight so instinctively.

He didn't interrupt, just watched. When Ninja was finally finished ten minutes later, the entire team was watching silently. He looked at them; they looked at him. They didn't need to say anything; they didn't need to ask how he was doing. He didn't need to lie and tell them that he was fine; he just nodded minutely and they all went back out to see if Team Three had come back.

They ran into Donna on the way out. Her face was tight with worry. "We just got a hit," she began.

"Ransom?" Ninja asked. He was confused; he didn't think people would want ransom for a kid. Most kids were just taken.

Donna shook her head shortly. "No, it wasn't an email or call, Ninja. We put a tab on the internet so that if Snips' name pops up, we would know. It was a link to a video feed—this website is kind of like an online TV show. You might want to see this."

Even as she said it, Ninja knew it was a lie. She didn't want them to see this at all. Muscles tight, he followed her with the rest of his team, wondering what could cause them to be this nervous. Did they really still see them as kids, or was it because it was one of their own?

What was on that online feed?

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Snips was doing pushups when she heard footsteps. Cautiously she got up and moved towards the bed. She didn't want to fight, but she did need exercise, so she had begun working out, starting with sit-ups and moving to pushups about five minutes ago.

She was on her feet when the door began to open. Jason came in, seeming startled that she was there and waiting. In his hands he held what seemed to be a tracksuit. It was dark blue with white stripes down the side. It contained pants, a jacket, and a navy blue t-shirt. "You need to put these on," Jason said, tossing them to her. She caught them, watching him. He shifted. "You have an interview and then your first fight. Put those on and I'll tell you about the fight on the way to and from the interview."

"I'm not fighting," Snips said. She didn't say it angrily or fearfully, she just made a statement.

Jason shrugged. "That's up to you. Either way, you're going to that arena. When you get there, you can choose to let him beat the crap out of you or fight. It's your choice." He gestured towards the clothes. "Put those on, then knock on the door when you're ready. If you take more than five minutes, I'm coming in. Your interviews in ten." With that he walked out and closed the door.

Snips stared at the clothes in her hand. Part of her just wanted to ignore him and do nothing, but part of her knew that it would be better to comply now, at least in the terms of clothing. If they wanted her in this tracksuit, she had a feeling they would make her wear it, whether it be in her own power or someone else's. So she put it on.

She was a bit freaked out to find that it fit her perfectly. How did they know her clothing size? How long had they been watching her?

She let out a quiet sigh, controlling her emotions. She couldn't let her fear or anger show to these people. She had to stay calm and keep her wits about her. If her team couldn't find her, she had to get out by herself, and freaking out wouldn't help at all.

She knocked on the door and stepped back. Jason came in and nodded when he saw she had done as he asked. "All right kid, your first opponent—"

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Team Five crowded around the laptop that Team Three was using. Finally, Team Three stopped and got one of the large monitors used for debriefing and hooked the laptop up to it, making it large so that everyone could see the screen. Donna clicked on the link that was there and put on the 'web show' or whatever it was they were calling it. Team Five just watched.

A woman sat on a couch, her wavy brown hair framing her face perfectly. She wore a slinky red dress that showed off her curves. Her make-up was done perfectly, not too much on but just enough.

Ninja was unimpressed. This person had to do with the kidnapping of Lucia. He hated her already.

The woman began speaking. "Newcomers, faithful viewers, we have a new exciting fighter for you today!" Ninja began to get a bad feeling, and looking at his friends, he could tell he wasn't the only one. "Now, we normally don't have teenagers fight here, for health reasons, as you all know," Ninja narrowed his eyes, "but this teen is truly remarkable. Maybe some of you know her. We first spotted her from that terrible bridge incident last week, and have since approached her and offered her a spot as one of our fighters. It took some convincing, but we eventually managed to show her that this was a good choice."

"By kidnapping her," Whiz muttered under his breath.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present Lucia Macculloh!"

Ninja's hands twitched into fists in a split second. Team Five watched as their team leader walked to the lady, calmness and confidence shining through every step she took.

The lady smiled. "Lucia, dear. Have a seat."

Lucia said nothing, coming to a stop and lacing her fingers behind her back. The team smirked at each other as one of the eyebrows on that perfectly manicured face twitched. They watched with interest as a man came up behind their friend and began whispering in her ear. Lucia's eyes flickered upwards towards something then back down again. Acting as if nothing was wrong, she took the few extra steps that seated her on the very edge of the couch, sitting with her back straight and hands on her lap. She might've looked like she was being prim and proper, but Ninja knew that she was ready to fight. He could tell by the way that her legs were balanced on her toes that she was ready to spring up; her hands were tense but controlled; the minute twitch of her eyes as she surveyed the room. She glanced up quite a few times. Were there snipers?

"Well, Lucia, do you mind if we ask a few questions before your first fight?"

Snips looked calmly into her eyes. "You can ask all the questions you want if I get to go home after."

The woman let out a light laugh, one that would make most men go crazy for her. Her voice was all silky and smooth, full but light. Most men would fall for something like that instantly.

Ninja was still unimpressed.

"Oh, Lucia dear, we both know you don't want to go home." Ninja noticed that Snips looked ready to say something, but looked at something off camera and shut her mouth. He had a feeling he knew what was behind that camera. "Now, back to the questions. Do you have a strategy for this upcoming fight, or are you planning on winging it, seeing as how it's your very first fight?"

Snips stared right at her. "I guess I'm winging it."

"Isn't that a bit dangerous? Don't you want to have some type of plan before going in there?"

Snips shrugged, suddenly looking uncomfortable. Ninja narrowed his eyes, and then grinned. He knew exactly what she was going for. "I don't know," his sister said, her voice small. "I'm not quite sure what to make of it all, really." Ninja noticed his teammates glance at each other, confused by their normally fearless leader sounding so small, but he didn't take the time to explain. He did notice that Sarge seemed to be catching on.

The interview carried on, the lady asking questions and Snips answering them as quietly and fearfully as possible, seeming to shrink down with each question that was asked. Ninja nodded; his sister was a genius.

"Well, viewers, that's all the time we have for this interview. Let's all wish Lucia good luck in her very first fight. We'll be right back."

The screen became black as Team Three exited out of full screen. Advertisements were all around the outer screen, and some links to other fights were posted. Everyone was silent, until—

"What was that?"

Team Five looked up in surprise at the voice. Constable Lane, Sergeant Parker, Jules and Sam were standing there, looking at the two teams with confusion on their faces. It was Constable Lane that had spoken. "Where is Snips?"

Sarge and Wheels looked at each other, then at Ninja. Ninja, for his part, was staring at the screen thoughtfully. No one said a word until he spoke. "We don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? Who was that person doing the—what, the interview?"

Ninja shrugged. "We don't know." He was still staring at the screen.

Sarge decided to step in. "We were at Laser Quest when Snips got a phone call. She was supposed to go to—what, work?" Ninja nodded. "A while later, Ninja gets a phone call saying that Snips never showed up to work. She had sent her boss a text message saying stay frosty. When we went outside, her car was still there and her stuff was all over the ground. We're not sure where she is."

"She doesn't know either," Ninja finally said. "She would have given us a clue if she knew." He finally turned back to their mentors. "What are you guys doing here?"

Sergeant Parker decided to step in. "When we noticed none of you guys had come home, we figured you were back here." Ninja nodded thoughtfully.

"What was with Snips?" Sharp asked suddenly. "Why did she sound so scared?"

Ninja grinned. "Because she's a genius," he informed his team. Everyone looked at him, confused. Only Sarge seemed to know what he was talking about it. "Think about it," Ninja continued. "You heard them. They don't normally have teenagers. Snips is their first kid that they're fighting. She goes around acting all innocent, scared out of her mind—"

"And people will want to make sure that she's okay," Whiz realized.

Sharp nodded. "Everyone has a kid they care about. Snips is playing her cards in full force."

"She's trying to get supporters. She won't say anything right now, I'm pretty sure they had some guns trained on her, but she's biding her time. She's going to act like a kid who is in way out of her depth, and when the timing is right, she'll play her hand. She'll want to get people on her side, though."

Sarge stared at their youngest teammate. "Where did you guys learn this stuff?"

Ninja gave a half smile. "Here and there." He turned to Teams One and Three. "Is there any way to trace where this website is originating from?" he asked. "If we can trace it, we can find Snips."

Sergeant Parker looked at his team, still slightly confused at what was going on. "Yeah, we can try. We—"

"Look," Whiz said, pointing to the screen. "They're back."

**Well, does anyone have any ideas as to what Snips is planning to do? Any suggestions? Any ****_I really really want this to happen_****? You know what you can do? REVIEW! I love reviews! So do it! Please?!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, guys! I'm back. And without further ado, here is the next update in ****_I just want to go home_****.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Flashpoint or any of it's characters. **

"You ready, kid?"

Snips stayed quiet, mentally preparing herself for what was about to come. "Kid?"

"I want to go home."

Jason sighed. He hated this. "Listen, kid, I know you're scared. But you seem to be made of some pretty tough stuff. You weren't afraid when you were helping that girl on the bridge, why are you afraid now?"

Snips glared at him, though she dampened it a bit, still playing the part of an innocent child. "Because I wasn't about to get beaten up by really big guys!"

Jason shook his head as the door opened. "Just remember what I told you and try and stick to the plan. You can do this kid." He pushed her lightly through the door and followed, waiting by it as the door closed. He directed her to move into the center of the arena.

Snips did as he asked, chewing on her lower lip nervously. She knew what she had to do, but she also knew that it was going to _hurt_.

She watched as her opponent entered the arena. He was a big man with pretty short hair. She was pretty sure that his muscles had muscles. He was wearing sweatpants and no shirt; his feet were bare. She revised her earlier thought. This wasn't just going to hurt. This was going to really, _really _hurt_._

He approached her, grinning and calling out demeaning sentences. She let him; he was doing her job for her. He kept saying how she was just a little girl and had no place in his world, how he was going to try and go a bit easy on her so that she could actually live through the experience.

_Just keep talking,_ she thought. _You talking will be faster than me trying to escape._

"Are the fighters ready?" a voice boomed out. Snips jumped, not even trying to hide her startle. The man, for his part, just grinned predatorily. _Great. _"Begin!"

The man advanced slowly, trying to be intimidating. She immediately ran. He gave a bark of laughter and began to slowly walk after her, cracking his knuckles. Snips mentally rolled her eyes.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Sergeant Parker placed his hands on his son's shoulders as they watched the fight proceed. He could feel Dean stiffen as Snips turned and ran from her oncoming opponent. He glanced over at Ninja.

The boy seemed calm enough, but his eyes were narrowed in concentration at the screen, and his fingers were white from where he was clutching at the chair. He had an air of utter calmness around him, but his eyes betrayed his worry. Sergeant Parker looked over at Lane, and his old friend nodded. He saw it too.

Both knew that Ninja held his older sister in the highest regard. They both knew that Snips was fully capable of taking this man down, but Ninja was still concerned. Suddenly the two men looked at each other, understanding coming to both at the same time. The color drained from their faces as they realized exactly what was about to happen.

_"__She's trying to get supporters," _Ninja had said._ "She's going to act like a kid who is in way out of her depth."_

This was all a part of her plan while she waited for her team to find her. She was going to throw this fight, and she was going to get badly injured while doing it.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Snips had backed herself into a corner. Walls surrounded her on three sides, and Muscles was coming in on the fourth. Normally, she would like this, especially when facing multiple opponents, but this wasn't a normal situation. She had run out of places to run. She prepared as best as she could for the beating she was about to receive.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Sarge watched in worry as Ninja got up and strode silently out of the room. He stood and shook his head at his team, signaling them to let him take this. On his way out he wiped a few tears that had strayed out of his eyes as he had watched his girlfriend and Team Leader get painfully taken down. He had figured it was a part of her plan, but it was still painful to watch, knowing that there was nothing he could do for her. The only thing he could do was find her as fast as possible. But right now, he had a duty to her little brother, and his younger teammate. He pushed his emotions aside to deal with later.

He looked around, but true to his name, Ninja had vanished. He checked the workout room and the lockers, but his younger friend wasn't in either of those places. He finally gave up and went to Winnie, asking if she had seen him. She shook her head but pulled up the security cameras. They finally found him on the roof. Thanking Winnie, Sarge went after his hand-to-hand combat expert.

The roof was quiet when he finally opened the door. "You know," he said conversationally, "if you jump off the roof, I'm pretty sure your sister will kill me."

Ninja's legs were dangling over the edge as he sat. He lay down, looking at Sarge. "She has to come home first."

Sarge came over to sit by him. "And she will," he said firmly. "She just needs some help. Heck, she could probably do it on her own, given enough time."

"I know," Ninja said quietly.

Sarge looked at him. At times it was so easy to look at him and see just Ninja, a sixteen-year-old who could do almost anything. The light grin and teasing eyes were the offset of his deadly fighting skills. Ninja was the best at being…well, ninja-like. And it was easy to just see him as unbreakable.

But there were also times when Sarge couldn't help but see him as Kyle, his girlfriend's younger brother who loved to play pranks on his sister's boyfriend with his younger identical brothers, and who would sing Disney songs to his youngest brother to make him smile when he skinned his knee. When he was Kyle, he had a secret past that he hid with all of his ability because it mixed with Lu's and Lucia never wanted to talk about her past. Underneath Ninja, Kyle was a boy who was living in a grown-up's world and was still trying to remember what it meant to be a kid.

So Sarge decided to try and learn more about Kyle the kid.

"On the day of our final exam," Sarge began. The Final Exam was what they called the day when Jake and Grivans came and nearly killed them all. "When Lu was frozen and scared, you had Sharp punch you, knowing it would bring her out of it." Ninja looked at him, silently telling him to hurry up and get to his point. "How did you know she would come out of it and catch that punch?"

Ninja sighed. "Lu told me you were good at asking the hard questions." Sarge just remained silent, waiting for his friend to speak. Ninja stood up and walked over to the wall of the door, Sarge his constant shadow. He sat and drew his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. "Remember how I said Lu and I were separated? How she went through the foster system and I went to an orphanage?" Sarge nodded. "When she was growing up with Jake she basically lived out on the streets. Jake made her run deals for him because he knew that no cop would look twice at her, she was so young. She knew every alleyway, every house, who had guns or drugs and who could be fooled easily. She knew who the dirty cops and the good ones were. She knew everything about that neighborhood.

"One day I had decided to go out. Wasn't a huge fan of the orphanage; got bullied a lot there." Sarge raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "That's where I learned to be silent, by the way. A good skill to have there. Anyway, I had ended up on the wrong street and got surrounded by the wrong people. I was five years old. Lu was seven." He stayed quiet for a moment, and Sarge let him think. "The streets of Brooklyn at night are a dangerous place to be, especially for a five-year-old. I was surrounded before I even knew what was happening."

"What did they want?" Sarge asked softly.

"What do you think they wanted, Sarge? Do you think I would've had money at five?" He sighed as Sarge waited. "I didn't understand what was happening, but I knew I didn't want them to touch me. I was kicking and clawing and biting, anything I could do to get free; I was screaming, hoping someone could hear me.

"And then out of nowhere, the guy holding me dropped. Lu had jumped right on top of him, and he was out cold. The other three guys were going towards her, but she just began moving. I can't even remember what happened."

Sarge was impressed. He had never known Ninja as a kid, so it was somewhat difficult to compare the deadly teen with the scared and confused five-year-old he was describing. "And then what?" he prompted when his friend went silent.

"She was asking me if I was all right, where was I from. I didn't want to go back to the orphanage, so I didn't say anything. She finally got it out of me, though." He looked at Sarge, sadness radiating from his every fiber. "I begged her to take me home with her. Said I would be good, I wouldn't cause any trouble at all. I begged and pleaded and cried, but she kept saying no. We had arrived at the orphanage then, so I screamed that I hated her and stormed into the house. I said I hated her, Sarge, and all she was trying to do was protect me. Even before she knew I was her brother she was trying to protect me."

"You didn't know, Kyle. How were you supposed to know?"

Ninja shrugged. "I saw a lot of her after that night," he confessed. "I would wander into alleyways and dark streets, knowing that she would come and find me and save me. I begged her to teach me how to fight, and after nearly getting killed because she almost didn't get there in time, she agreed. We would meet nearly every night, and now I know that they were after the errands Jake had her run."

Sarge listened in fascination how Snips and Ninja first met, how Snips began teaching her little brother that she didn't know the basics moves of self-defense, then other fighting moves that she had learned while living on the streets. Absorbed every word of how they went and watched karate classes and mimicked the moves until they knew every one. Listened as he described how the moves all came naturally to him, until he could beat even Snips in a fight.

"She promised she would always protect me," Ninja finally whispered. "She swore to me that no matter what happened, she would always try to protect me. No one had ever said that to me, no one had ever cared. But she did care, and she didn't even really know me."

Sarge knew then, why Snips had caught that punch from Sharp. Knew why she would always catch the punches. Because she still saw that scared five-year-old boy who gazed at her with absolute awe and adoration, who fully believed that she could stop all the evil in the world if she just tried. She saw that the boy she swore to protect was about to get hurt, and put herself out to stop it, not even knowing yet where the danger was coming from. It didn't matter that they didn't know they were family; in their own way they had already started their own family. And though he was dying to find out about how they found out they were related, he didn't ask, just let Ninja sit in peace.

He could find out another day.

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this, and finding out a bit of Snips and Ninja's background story. And guess what? It was my birthday during this last week! Won't you make me happy and review? Please?**


	6. Chapter 6

**I am so sorry. I know I'm supposed to update on Friday, but fanfiction wouldn't let me upload this chapter! I tried so many times, but it was only now that I was able to get it. Well, anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and remember: I don't own Flashpoint.**

"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?"

Sarge and Ninja looked up as Sharp's question broke through the air. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Peters, had stormed into the building, fear etched on their faces. Sharp was instantly up and coming to his parents. His mother hugged him as his father turned to face Sergeant Parker and Constable Lane. "What's going on?" Sharp questioned again.

"Ryan, get your things. Now, please," his mother ordered.

"What? Why?"

"Now, son," his father never turned from watching the two men approach him.

"What is going on?" Sergeant Parker questioned.

"Ryan will no longer be participating in this…activity."

"What?" the question came from all different directions, Sharp's question the loudest.

"Ryan, I'm not going to tell you again. Get your things."

"Not until you tell me why you think I'm not doing this anymore," Sharp responded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Because this is not the time for you guys to go full I-want-you-to-join-the-chess-club again or whatever. I'm kinda in the middle of something."

Wheels whispered to Sarge, "His parents wanted him to join the _chess_ club?" Sarge just shrugged, watching this play out.

Sergeant Parker was now speaking. "I'm sorry you're feeling this way," he began. "Can you explain to me this sudden interest in pulling Ryan out?"

"He's in _danger_ here!" his mother shrieked.

All around him eyebrows were raised. They were in a police station.

"This has to do with Snips," Constable Lane finally stated.

"Of course it does. Last week she was nearly dying on a bridge—"

"After saving a girl," Sarge interjected.

"And this today with her being kidnapped," his father continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "This is dangerous, and these are just children. Our son is not staying in this program, and if you know what's good for these teens, you won't even continue this program. It was an utterly ridiculous idea. Ryan, let's go." He looked over towards his son, seeming surprised when Sharp was still in his workout clothes. "Ryan."

Sharp looked towards his team, his mentors, and finally crossed his arms and stood firm, shaking his head. "Sorry, mom, dad, but I'm not going anywhere."

"Ryan, we are going home. Now."

"Then go," Sharp retorted. "But I've got a missing teammate to find." His parents looked like they were going to interrupt, but Sharp overrode them. "You were always the ones who were telling me to go out and do something more with my life. _You_ were the ones who were telling me I needed to be making friends. Well guess what?" He spread his arms to indicate the teens around him, the team that was coming to stand by his side. "I did. I'm a part of something here, mom. Dad, I'm doing something important with my life. My team was there with me when I needed them. They invited me to parties; they helped me study for my history test when I thought for certain I was going to fail. They have been by my side, being _friends_ to me every step of the way." He stepped back, until he was shoulder to shoulder between Wheels and Whiz. "And now one of my teammates is in danger. She's never turned her back on me. I'm not turning mine on her."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Snips tried to breathe normally as Jason wrapped her arm but ended up somehow holding her breath. She let it out as he finally released her arm. She couldn't stop the silent tears that were running down her cheeks as she cradled her arm close. She didn't want to stop them.

Small concussion. Dislocated shoulder that was just set. She had heavy bruising that was covering her torso and arms. Her left eye was turning a nice shade of purple, and she was pretty sure she cracked a rib. Jason was silent as he finished up and left her alone.

She gently touched her head as she walked to the far side of the room where the punching bag was. She placed her hand on it gently, looking at the small markings she had made.

Eight lines, one for each day she had been here. Hopefully she wouldn't have to make too many more. She wasn't sure how much more she could take.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Wheels sat with Sarge, watching their team as they continued their various tasks. Whiz was with Spike, trying desperately to get a location on where their missing Team Leader was. Wheels could see the bright eyes that held back the unshed tears as he tried and failed.

Red was trying to get Ninja to talk with her, and having about as much luck as Whiz was with the computer. Their freaky awesome ninja just wasn't talking. It was almost like he had shut down. The only thing he would do was stare at the door as he fought, as if he kept expecting her to walk through it. He wasn't the only one.

Sharp wasn't in the room, but it didn't take a genius to know where he was. Though he didn't say anything, Wheels knew that their weapons expert had printed off a picture of the website page and was continuously adding extra holes to it. At a high velocity. Wheels didn't blame him. His parents still argued with him, day and night, whenever they saw him, whenever he got home from school about his decision to remain with Team Five. Shooting things was just one way to get the stress off, especially after watching Snips fight on the computer.

The last fight had been bad. Pretty much worse than the first fight Snips had been in, though Wheels suspected that it had something to do with the fact that he was pretty sure his friend hadn't slept for more than a couple of hours in the last fifteen days. Two weeks. She had been gone for two weeks, and the people she trusted to get her out weren't any closer to finding her than they were on the first day. About five days ago she had disappeared, and they were all terrified that something serious had happened. She had just come back today. He sighed and looked at his friend.

Sarge was just staring at Ninja, as if trying to decide how best to confront the sixteen-year-old. Though it wasn't obvious to anyone who didn't know him that well, Wheels could see the tiredness, the pain, the guilt of not finding his teammate and girlfriend. "Dean."

Sarge looked up at the soft voice, turning to face his long-time friend. "It's not your fault. Her being taken, it's not your fault man."

He shook his head. "I know."

"And it's not your fault we haven't found her yet, either."

Sarge looked away, but finally managed to meet Wheels' eyes. "How do you do that, Clark?"

Wheels smiled softly. "I've known you for years, idiot," he replied. "You look like this anytime you blame yourself." He poked his friend. "Like that time you blamed yourself for the bird dying."

Sarge let out a huff of laughter. "Yeah, that wasn't fun. I was trying so hard…"

"Dude, you weren't even the one that hit it. It had a broken wing. There wasn't anyway to help it, especially since every time you went near it, it nearly pecked your eyes out!"

Sarge shook his head and looked away. "We need to find her, Clark. I'm afraid of what's going to happen to Ninja and his brothers if we don't."

_And I'm afraid of what's going to happen to you if we don't._ But Wheels didn't say it aloud. He was about to say that they should all do a team activity when the doors opened. They turned to look, half-hoping to see their fearless leader come in. Instead, two identical boys and one kid that was shorter burst in.

Wheels spent enough time around Snips and Ninja's strange small family to know that it was Ben and Nick who had come in, dragging Justin behind him. He turned to Ninja, who flinched a little when they came in, but went to greet them, brow furrowing when he realized they were all out of breath.

Wheels knew why their youngest teammate had flinched. Ninja had confided in him that every night as he tucked his youngest brother into bed, Justin always asked if Lucia was coming home tonight. And Ninja could never say yes.

But quickly everyone grew concerned as they realized that not only were the three boys out of breath, John was not with them and they were all looking terrified. "Ben? What's going on?"

Ben looked at his older brother, trying to catch his breath. "Ben. Where is John?"

"Stalling," he finally replied. "Kyle, we need to talk. Like right now."

"What's going on?"

"Did Lu ever mention anything about child services to you?"

Ninja looked weary. "No. Why?"

"Because some people came looking for her. Said that she was supposed to meet with them today. They won't take no for an answer, and they keep saying that we're lying when we say that she's missing. Kyle, they're saying that if she doesn't come and talk with them, they're going to take us all away."

**Well, this isn't actually all of Chapter 6, because it appears fanfiction is being picky about how long my chapters can be, which is rather weird… so I'll get the next one up in a few minutes!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, if you guys didn't know, I put up two chapters today, because I couldn't upload them as one, for some reason. So please make sure to read the one labeled 6a first! Hope you enjoy, and I don't own flashpoint!**

The entirety of Team Five, minus the siblings, were sitting outside one of the conference rooms. The two people from CPS were inside talking with Ninja. They had come about thirty minutes ago, with John trailing behind. Walking in, they had demanded that if Lucia wasn't there, the five boys would have to go with them. After they were told that Lucia wasn't available because she was missing, they went on to complain that she had not been at any of her other work places, so therefore she had to be here.

Ninja had calmly asked them if they could talk in private, and had eventually allowed Wordy and Sergeant Parker to follow him into the conference room. That had been thirty minutes ago.

Team Five and Kyle's brothers hadn't moved an inch. They all sat outside, worried about what was happening, what was going on, what was going to happen. Team One tried to make conversation with them, but they weren't having any of it.

Finally the men came out of the room. Team Five looked for Ninja but didn't see him coming out. They looked fearfully at Wordy and Sergeant Parker but the men merely shook hands with the two CPS people and walked them to the front door and bid them farewell. It didn't take a genius to hear the hidden message behind their calm farewell: _Come back here and you will disappear. For good._

Justin, Ben, Nick and John ignored the two officers in favor of searching for their brother. They walked into the room to find him with his head in his hands, elbows on the table.

"Kyle?" Ben asked softly.

It took a few moments, but finally the eldest brother raised his head. "Hey guys," he said brightly. The triplets ignored it, knowing he was sounding happy for Justin's sake. Ben gave Kyle a look, and his brother sighed. "You guys are going to stay with the Wordsworths for awhile," he admitted. "If that's okay with you. If you prefer, I can try and find somewhere else for right now."

Justin smiled. "Are we going to have a sleepover?" he asked hopefully.

Kyle squatted down next to him and wrapped him in a hug. "Yeah, buddy. It's going to be like a really long sleepover, though. You're going to be staying with the Wordsworths for awhile."

Justin frowned. "What about you? And why do we have to stay with Mr. Wordy and Ms. Shelley?"

Kyle smiled but the triplets could tell that he was barely holding it together. John and Nick took Justin by the hand. "Come on, buddy. Let's go tell Mr. Wordy." Justin followed them unsurely, glancing back at Kyle every few steps, but seemed to feel better after his brother smiled at him.

"What's going on?"

The smile dropped instantly and Kyle sighed. "I don't know," he admitted. "Those two guys, Aaron Johnson and Steve Krakes came in and basically said that they and Lucia had an agreement, but since she wasn't here then they could no longer honor it. They were threatening to take you guys away to different foster homes. Luckily Wordy offered his home. So you guys are gonna stay there for a bit."

"What about you?" Ben asked. He was fine with this new deal; he and his brothers had basically been living with the Wordsworths anyway.

But Kyle was shaking his head. "I'm gonna stay at home," he informed Ben. "For when she comes home."

Ben nodded, knowing that Lucia would come back, and when she did, it would be better if it weren't to an empty house. "What was this agreement?"

His older brother shrugged. "Don't know. The two creeps didn't elaborate on it. So I'm not sure what's going on."

"Lu didn't tell you?" Kyle looking away was the only answer he needed. "I don't get it, K, why did she tell you? She always tells you everything."

"I don't know." Kyle sighed and placed his head in his hands again. "Look, you better get your stuff from the house. I think Justin needs some stability right now, and I know he can get that at Wordy's house. So…yeah."

"You'll have your phone on you?" Ben confirmed. Kyle nodded. Ben began walking away, but turned back when he reached the door. "It's not your fault, Kyle. I'm sure she had a good reason. You know she always does."

He barely heard his brother's whispered reply. "Not for this."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"What do you suggest we do, ma'am?" Jason asked respectfully as he stood in front of her. "The crowds are getting edgy. They don't like the fact that she basically gets pulverized every time she shows her face."

"I'm well aware of this, Jason."

"Ma'am, I'll agree that she did show true strength when she rescued that girl off the bridge. But that wasn't a fight like the fight that she should be expecting here. She's just not ready for this."

The woman was playing with her wine glass, twirling it around and watching as the liquid swirled with it. "I believe you're wrong."

Jason's face was incredulous. "Ma'am, have you seen her? She goes into the ring and barely is able to get a hit on the other guy, no matter how hard she tries."

"That's the thing, Jason. She isn't trying."

"…Ma'am?"

"I do believe that our dear Lucia is holding back on us. After all, the SRU wouldn't allow one of their young cadets to not know how to defend themselves. I think it's time to bring in some extra…encouragement."

"What do you mean?"

"I want some leverage against her, Jason," her voice sharpened, "or is that too hard to comprehend? One of her friends should do just find, maybe a brother or two. Get it done."

"You know that it's going to take me awhile to get someone."

"We still have contacts around. Tell one of them to do the grabbing. I want a fighter, Jason, and she can be that. I don't care the price. Get it done."

Jason nodded and began to walk out of the room, phone to his ear, hiding the frown that was marring his face.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Are you okay?"

Ninja didn't even bother to look up. "My brothers are being threatened with foster care. My sister's missing, fighting for her life somewhere. What do you think?" he snapped. "And you know what's even better? I don't know whether to feel upset that Lu's in danger or furious about the fact that she lied to me." Silence met him and he sighed. "I'm sorry Red," he whispered. "It's just…I just…"

She wrapped her arms around him. "It's okay," she said quietly.

"No it's not!" he cried, standing suddenly. "She _lied_ to me, Red. She kept this from me, knowing that it would have a huge impact on our lives. She kept this from me, even after we swore we would never keep anything from each other. Why? Why would she do that?"

"Maybe she was trying to protect you," Red said lightly, though her gut was churning. What Ninja said hit too close to home.

But Ninja was shaking his head. "You don't get it, Red," he answered. "When we moved here, we swore there would be no more secrets from each other. Lu tried to keep stuff from me in the past, to _protect_ me, and it backfired spectacularly. After that, we told each other no more secrets." He was shaking now, and Red didn't know if it was from fear for his sister or anger. She knew she had to get his mind off of Snips, though, before he broke completely.

"Snips wasn't the only one keeping secrets, Ninja," she said.

He looked confused. "What?"

She took a deep breath. "I've been keeping something from you as well. The reason I'm living with Jules now."

She didn't look up, and so missed the way his eyes widened. "Red, I didn't mean—"

But she continued, plowing through him in her desperation to get this out. "See, my mom died when I was younger, and I grew up with just my dad, and he…he wasn't…" she was trying to figure out how to get this out before breaking down completely.

"Red." Ninja's tone was commanding, one that he normally only used on his little brothers, and it forced her to look at him. Quiet understanding was in his eyes, understanding and compassion.

"You know," she whispered, sitting heavily on the table. _How? Did Jules and Sam say something? How did he know?_

"Red," Ninja said again, quieter this time, and she realized that she had been saying these things out loud. He sat down next to her. "They didn't say anything. I just knew."

"How?" It wasn't that far fetched that he would figure it out. He was Ninja, after all, but she wanted to know.

He gave a strangled laugh. "I live with Snips, remember? Snips, who was basically raised by monsters? I know the signs, Red, even if I didn't know them when I first met her, I've remembered those days perfectly, remembered all the signs, and wonder how on earth I missed it before. I swore that I would never miss those signs again."

"You knew."

"It doesn't change anything, Red. It changes absolutely nothing."

"Kyle, I—"

"Dani." She stopped talking, and just looked at him. "You're still you, and I'm still me, and we're still us. When I was talking about Snips keeping things from me, it was completely different. We're siblings, and we've had a dangerous life for pretty much our _entire_ life. We've come to the point where if we keep stuff from each other, we put the rest of our family in danger, as you can see. But that doesn't have to be us yet. I've spent most of my life not trusting people, Red. That's just how I grew up and survived. So how can I expect you to tell me everything when there is still stuff I keep from you? When there will pretty much always be a time I keep everything from you? I can't ask you for complete and total honesty and not share it with you. It's just not fair."

Red sighed, resting her head on his shoulder, feeling the way it quivered with barely contained tension. "Why did you have to grow up so fast?" she whispered.

"To let my brothers grow up slow," he replied.

Nothing more needed to be said.

**So, it has come to my attention that while the little strange family might've gotten away with taking care of themselves under Snips' guidance (since she's 18, almost 19), it's something completely different for a 16-year-old to do it. I was also told I needed to have a scene where Red tells Ninja what happened, why she's living with Jules. So here you are. Review and tell me what you think, or what you think will/want to happen next. I LOVE REVIEWS!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! So I'm getting this to you earlier partly because I just finished it and finished editing it, and partly because I was late last week getting it to you. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Flashpoint. Did you really think I did?**

Ninja walked through the door to the locker room, shrugging off his backpack so that he could place it in his locker. He knew that no one else from Team Five would be here right now; they had agreed that today was a day to spend resting after school. Well, they had mostly been ordered that today was a day to spend resting, and for most of them, it was an almost welcome relief. They had been coming in every single day for the past twenty days: every single day since Lucia was taken.

The problem was, Ninja didn't _do_ resting. His idea of a day off was working out, maybe watching a movie with his family. The problem with that though, he only watched movies when all of his family was together. If they weren't all together, he felt restless, as if part of him was missing and he needed to go get it back so that he could settle down. So that option fell through, and he was left with exercising.

Normally he liked to run outside, but he was still a little wary of the way Lucia was taken right off the streets, right in a parking lot, with people probably around. So he came to the one place he knew he was safe. He had gone to the SRU.

He finished tying on his sneakers and headed to the workout room. He ignored the surprised look he got from Sergeant Troy and moved past him, intent on reaching his goal. Finally there, he closed his eyes and let all the days anger, frustration, fear, _everything_ come out and began to move.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Sharp ignored his parents as he came into his house after school that day. Instead he headed straight upstairs, not even stopping to say anything other than a muttered 'hey'. But this did not deter his parents.

"Ryan, we're just worried about you. You're about to graduate and have many options for going to school. Maybe it's time to start focusing on studying for finals instead of—"

"Mom," Sharp interrupted, "if you're about to say 'silly little group' then don't even bother. We're not a silly little group. We're the youngest ever to join the SRU, even if we are just the cadet program. We've surpassed all expectations that people set for us, reaching higher than ever thought possible. So don't you dare tell me that it's a silly little group. We are so much more than that." With that he turned and shut his door before locking it and collapsing on his bed.

He ignored the knocking in favor of searching for his phone, which had just let off a text alert. He grinned when he saw who it was from.

_Hey, it's Sam. You free?_

He thumbed back a quick message. _Definitely. What's up?_

_No calls or anything. Just wanted to see if you needed a break from your house. Wanna grab a milkshake?_

_Yes._

_Cool. I'm outside._

Sharp couldn't help but grin even wider at the last message. Hallelujah. He grabbed his jacket, wallet and keys and yanked open the door, sliding past his mother who still had her hand raised to knock. "Going out with a friend. Be back later."

He didn't give her a chance to respond before he darted out the door and slid into Sam's car. "Get me out of here."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Ed Lane looked down at his phone in surprise, hoping that his team wasn't getting called in. They needed a break. "What's up, Troy?"

"Hey, Ed. Look, I'm sorry to call you man, but I couldn't think of anyone else to call. I don't think Parker would really be a good choice to handle this thing."

His brow furrowed. "What do you mean? What's going on?" He saw Sophie look at him in concern at this, pausing the movie.

"Ninja's here, and Ed…look, can you just come over? And don't bring Wheels. You're going to want to see this."

"I'm on my way." He hung up his phone and stood. "Sorry, Soph, but I've got to head to the station. Something's going on with Ninja."

"Do you want me to come with you? Clark should be over at the Parkers for at least a couple more hours."

He gazed at her, about to tell her no, but then relented. "Yeah, that might be good. But when we get there, can you stay in the car? I want to see what's going on before you come in."

Sophie was already getting up and moving to grab her purse. "I'm not a little girl who needs protection, Eddie. But if it makes you feel better," she interrupted his protests and kissed him on the cheek, "I'll wait in the car."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"So," Sam began, taking a sip of his chocolate milkshake, "parents still giving you trouble?"

Sharp rolled his eyes, looking at his own chocolate shake. "Like you wouldn't believe. It's frustrating, you know? I get that they're worried about me, but I've been doing this since last June. That'll be a year in just three months. And it's just…"

"What?" Sam encouraged.

"It's exhausting," Sharp admitted. "Juggling school and SRU was fine, but add in trying to juggle my parents with that. Home used to be a place I could just hang and not have to worry about anything. Now it's like my parents are trying to control my life. They keep saying that I need to start worrying about my future, and they won't listen to me when I say I am. I have a job that's going to start the week after I graduate, but they won't stop yelling at me to drop the SRU team to even listen to me that I _have_ a job lined up. And I've already applied and got a full ride to the community college."

Sam whistled. "Full ride? Congratulations."

Sharp shrugged. "Thanks. It's just…I haven't even had a chance to tell my parents. My dad keeps telling me I have to spend more time studying to get my GPA up, but ever since I joined the cadet team, they've helped me pull my grades up. But my parents don't see that. Don't get me wrong, I did use to have horrible grades because I never had an interest in what teachers were saying, so my parents had a right to worry. But my team…we've all helped each other study. You know the team sleepovers we had? Most of them were study parties when school came. Even before that, we would all talk about what we had learned, and when it was all of us together, suddenly school became interesting. Everyone had all these great ways to apply them to work, and it became fun. It became important, because I could see how it applied. And ever since then, I've kept my grades up. I went to talk to an advisor from college to talk about scholarships. But my parents don't seem to care, especially my dad. He barely even looks at me now. It's like I've let him down."

Sam was staring off at the last sentence, and then sighed. "Yeah, I know all about that."

Sharp shot his head up. "You?"

He got a half laugh. "The general had a very specific plan for me, Sharp. Military. I came from a military family, so I had to join. And I did, and it was great. But then Ben died, and well…I didn't want to do it anymore. I was done being this point and shoot guy. I wanted to be there at the front, I wanted to save lives, maybe give a little back to make up for the ones I've taken. So I joined the SRU."

"Who's Ben?" Sharp asked curiously.

"He was my best friend," Sam said quietly. "His real name was Matt, but we all called him Ben because he had always 'been there, done that'. One day I was cleared to fire, our guys weren't supposed to be there. But Ben was." Sam couldn't say anything for a few minutes as they continued walking. "He wasn't supposed to be, but he was. And I didn't know, and…I shot my best friend, Sharp."

"I'm so sorry," Sharp whispered.

"It was hard to get over," Sam admitted. "But my team helped pull me through. If it hadn't been for them…well things would probably have been a lot darker. But my father keeps wanting me to go back."

Sharp stayed quiet. He had never heard this story, and immediately knew he couldn't tell his teammates. It wasn't his story to share.

"What I'm trying to say here, Sharp, is that sometimes what our parents want for us and what we need doesn't always line up. You're eighteen, and you're about to graduate. You have an amazing mind, and you're incredibly sharp. Your parents are worried about you, and that's how it should be. And you should try and ease their worry, but don't go so far as to change who you are. Don't give up on what you want. You have a group, a team, of incredible people, each who love you and care about you and want you to shine. You guys are the youngest ever to join the SRU, and you have done an amazing job for this cadet program, so amazing that the commander decided to let you continue into your school year.

"This team is a part of you, Sharp. If you want to stop, that's up to you. But don't let your parents talk you out of one of the most important things in your life. Because trust me, you will regret it."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

When Ed walked through the doors, he came in with an open mind, not exactly sure what the soon-to-be seventeen year old would be up to. But even he was unprepared for the sight that greeted him.

The boy that was moving around the punching bag was Ninja, but maybe ten times more dangerous. His eyes were a mix between glazed and crazy, and his hands were bloodied from the punching bag, seeing as how he wore no protective covering for them. He was sweating profusely, and didn't seem to acknowledge anyone around him.

Ed walked over to Troy, keeping his voice low. "How long has he been on that? And has anyone tried to stop him?" He didn't believe that they would just let him keep going looking like that, but he had to ask and make sure.

But Troy was shaking his head. "He's been on that thing for at least an hour, maybe an hour and a half. And we tried pulling him off, but when we called his name, it was like he couldn't hear us. And when we tried to just grab him to make him stop, he turned and attacked _us_. It was like he didn't recognize us at all. When we had to back off, he just turned and went back to the bag. I have no idea what to do, Ed."

"Any idea what set him off?"

"No clue. He came straight from school and didn't say a word to anyone."

"Alright. Let me try. And you guys might want to get a first aid kit or something for his hands."

With that, Ed turned towards the teen, walking slowly towards him, talking the whole time. He wasn't quite sure what he was saying, but he knew that if he kept talking, at least this way Ninja would know someone was approaching.

It took a minute, but Ed knew he finally caught the teen's attention, even though he never turned and acknowledged him. "Ninja? Are you with me, bud?" No response. "This has to stop. You're hurting yourself, kiddo. You're going to break your hands at the rate you're going." _If you haven't already._ "Kyle."

That got his attention, though he never slowed. But at least this time the teen was looking towards Ed, even though his hands kept flying. Ed walked up to grab the punching bag, and was amazed that Ninja was even capable of still giving it the force that were behind those punches. He had to be in a lot of pain.

Finally, as Ninja was circling around, Ed reached out and grabbed one of his wrists, careful of the bloodied knuckles. Immediately the teen reacted, grabbing the arm that was holding him to force it to let go. But Ed remained firm, grabbing that hand as well, twisting Ninja until the teen had his back against Ed's chest.

But Ninja ducked and spun, yanking his arms out from their hold. He lashed out with a roundhouse kick, following through when Ed ducked and spinning until he could land a punch out to the older man.

But Ed could see that Ninja was getting tired: his normally clean executed punches that never wasted a movement were slowly becoming erratic as the two continued their fight, and he didn't even have to attack. He just let the teen move, wasting all his energy on hits that never landed and kicks that never met their target. He could see that Ninja was growing furious with each miss, growing more and more wild with his punches until finally, Ed countered one kick, twisting Ninja until he landed on the floor, back trapped to Ed's chest as he squirmed spontaneously, trying to break free. In response Ed just held on tighter, not willing to let go of the boy, arms wrapped around his chest, hoping that he would just calm down.

But Kyle was a fighter, and had been fighting all his life. So he kept squirming, biting and kicking, screaming for the entire world to hear as he fought against the arms, refusing to break. But Ed could see it.

He could see that Kyle wasn't really trying to fight him, more like he was fighting _himself._ His face was twisted in a silent agony that Ed knew had nothing to do with the torn hands, and it was such raw pain that Ed almost wanted to cry in pity. The kid just looked like he was in so much pain, but Ed had no idea what kind. Was it the hands? Was it Lucia's disappearance? The threat from social services? All three? He didn't know, but he held on all the tighter, whispering soothing words he hadn't said since Clark was small. And then it finally happened: Kyle broke.

Tears were streaming down his face and he dropped his head and sobbed. Ed turned him so that the restraining arms could be tender, propelling the face down to his shoulder. Kyle latched on to his shirt, just sobbing.

Ed looked around, but was glad to see that the other team had left them in privacy. Now he just held the teen, wondering why it was now that Kyle had broken down. Why it had taken twenty days for the strong kid against him to finally crumble to the pressure all around him and collapse.

It took twenty minutes for the sobs to calm to quiet tears, and ten more minutes after that for Kyle to stop completely. But still he did not let go of the hold on Ed's shirt, and so Ed did not let go of him. "What happened?" he asked quietly instead.

For a long time Kyle did not answer, so long that Ed had to repeat the question. He knew the boy was awake, could feel his shuddering breath against his shoulder. "What happened, kiddo?"

He knew that Snips sometimes referred to her brothers as kiddo or bud. He was hoping that it would serve some comfort. Instead, he could feel quiet tears start up again as Kyle whispered brokenly, agony in each word, and Ed felt tears run down his own face.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

It didn't take long after for Kyle to drift off to sleep, exhausted by the fight and his day at school. Ed didn't bother waking him to change, instead opting to pick him up bridal style and carry him out to the car where Sophie was waiting. He left her to watch over Kyle as he went back inside and explained quietly to Troy what today was. After that he drove home.

He was furious with himself. He knew, on a calendar, what today was, but hadn't actually connected it _with_ today. And he kicked himself for it, making sure that he called Wordy with the news as soon as he reached home. Wordy had his own kids plus the extra four brothers to watch over, so Ed didn't bother even thinking going there. Instead he carried the still sleeping Kyle up to the spare room and laid him on the bed. The teen never even stirred.

He turned around to find Sophie there with bandages and everything else needed to clean the bloodied hands. The two set to work. "What happened?" she finally asked quietly.

Ed sighed, running a hand over his face. "It's Snips' birthday."

**So I had gotten a couple of requests to have Ed/Sam talk to Ninja, or Ed/Sam talk to Sharp. Well, here you go! Please tell me what you thought, and let me know if there's anything you want to happen. Review! I love reviews!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Wow, I feel like I haven't updated in forever…it's just been a crazy week. But anyways…here you go! **

**Disclaimer: how many times do we have to go over this? I don't own Flashpoint or any of it's characters.**

Wordy sighed as he walked up the steps and knocked quietly on the door. "Boys? Can I come in?"

He didn't have to wait long before Justin opened the door, a sad little smile on his face. "Hi, Mr. Wordy."

"Hey buddy. Where are your brothers?" Wordy followed Justin into the room to see Ben on the bed, math book open before him as he wrote equations in his notebook. Nick and John were nowhere to be seen. "Where are your brothers, guys?" he asked. He hadn't seen them downstairs, and thought all were up here.

But Ben was pointing to the window. "They finished their homework about ten minutes ago," the fifteen-year-old responded. "They're practicing baseball. Playing catch, don't worry. They're not trying to bat in your yard, I promise."

Wordy walked over to the window and sure enough could see the two identical boys throwing around a baseball, running all around as each throw got harder. "You guys have much homework left?"

Justin was shaking his head. "I don't have any. I finished it all!" he said proudly.

"Good job!" Wordy praised. "What about you, Ben?"

Ben lifted his pencil up. "Practice test for math. We've got a huge one next Friday. Justin is keeping me company while I study. But that's all."

"Do you guys want anything to eat?"

"Nah. I'm good. J?"

But the eight-year-old shook his head. "I'm not hungry. I'm going to read. Look, Mr. Wordy!" He held up his book. "I'm almost done with it. Kyle says that when I'm done he'll give me a new book."

"Then I'll get out of your way," Wordy chuckled. "Come downstairs when you get hungry, but dinner will be at six."

With that he closed the door and walked downstairs to the back door. He had already greeted his daughters, who were all still caught up in homework, except for Ally, who was at a friend's house. He slipped outside and watched quietly for a moment. It was lucky he did.

Wordy might be off-duty, but he was still a police officer and father and so noticed anything unusual. Like the man walking alongside the water. He raised his voice. "Nick! John! Come here for a minute!"

Wordy knew that it had only been because they had lived with Snips and Ninja that both boys obeyed immediately, without hesitation. Wordy ushered them inside. "Stay there and lock the door. Don't let anyone but me in."

With that, he took off, sprinting after the already running figure. So that guy was trouble. He ran all the faster.

It took five minutes, but Wordy was finally able to tackle the mystery man down. He parried the knife blow, knocking the weapon away. He twisted the attacker's arm so it was cinched behind him, at the point where if he moved, his arm would break.

"Who are you?" Wordy demanded. "Why were you watching those boys?"

"Why're you attacking me, man? I didn't do anything!"

"You were on my property, and you had a knife," Wordy retorted, wishing he had cuffs or rope or something on him. He wanted to call for back up, but he also didn't want to take his eyes off the man next to him. "I'll ask you one more time: why were you watching those boys?"

It was luck that saved Wordy. His prisoner was twitching underneath him, and Wordy had shifted. That, in turn, caused the other man to lose balance as his kick never made contact. Wordy acted immediately: he wasn't the hand-to-hand combat expert on Team One for nothing. He moved without relinquishing his hold, using one leg to sweep under his already off-balance opponent while jetting his left hand up, open palm, into his falling foe's unprotected chest. The man was left gasping for air.

Unfortunately, that meant there was only one hand to hold the other mystery man, who finally managed to slip out from Wordy's grasp, striking out with one fist. Wordy countered and spun, using his weight to help throw his attacker onto the ground while turning at the same time to counter the punch coming towards the back of his head.

They fought like that for a few minutes, 2-1 until one mystery man got in a lucky kick that sent Wordy flying back a few feet to land on his back. It hurt to get up, and he was fighting for breath, but he was on his feet and in a defensive position while his vision cleared, listening for the next attack.

Only there was none.

When Wordy was finally able to see clearly, he could only see two shadows running away. He debated with himself for only a moment before turning and sprinting back to his house.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Kev, what's going on?" Shelley asked.

He turned to the boys, checking to make sure they were all there. Sure enough, Justin was clinging to Ben's leg as the three older boys were staring at him, fear written on their faces. "Did anyone else come here?" he demanded as he reached for his phone.

"No," Shelley replied. "Kevin, what's going? What happened?"

"Daddy? Is something wrong?"

"No, sweetie," he assured Lily. "I just want to see if Uncle Greg can come over for a bit."

Greg answered immediately, thankfully. "What's up, Wordy?"

"Hey, Boss. Listen, do you think you could come over here for a bit? And see if anyone else on the team wants to come if they're able? There are just some things we need to discuss."

Amazingly, Greg caught on right away. "I'll gather up as many as I can. Is anyone hurt?"

"No. And don't bother calling Ed. He has some issues he has to deal with."

Greg was quiet for a while, obviously trying to piece together whatever he had missed. "All right," he agreed. "I'll tell Dean and Clark to hang here."

"Thanks Boss," Wordy said gratefully. "I'll see you soon."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"So someone's targeting the boys," Parker said, scratching the back of his head.

"Do you think it has to do with Snips?" Spike questioned.

Greg, Spike, and Lou were sitting across Wordy's couch, while Wordy himself was seated on the floor, thinking.

"Well, we know that Snips has been throwing fights," Lou commented. "What if the people who took knew she was throwing them as well? I mean, they had to have been following her, learning her schedule. They would know she has something to do with the SRU. What if they want to take her brothers as a way to get her to start putting up a fight?"

"Where's Kyle?"

The four men looked up in surprise. Wordy was on his feet instantly. "Ben, what are you doing? I asked you to go upstairs."

The three crossed their arms. "You can't keep this from us," Ben said, jutting out his chin. "We have a right to know. But if these guys are targeting us, then that means they might be trying to get Kyle, too. So where is he?"

"Safe," Wordy replied. "He's at the Lane's."

"Why's he there?" Greg asked. "Clark is over at my house with Dean."

But instead of Wordy answering, it was Nick. "He finally broke, didn't he?"

The four men looked at him curiously. "What do you mean, Nick?" Wordy asked. He didn't know exactly what had happened, just that today was Snips' birthday. He hadn't brought it up to the other boys because he had thought that they might've forgotten or didn't want to talk about it.

Nick just shrugged, as if it was obvious. "Well, you know what today is, right?"

When the men just shrugged, trying to piece it together, John answered. "It's Lucia's birthday." He turned to Wordy. "You knew, right?"

Wordy was nodding slowly. "I didn't want to bring it up if you weren't," he admitted.

But the triplets were shrugging again. Nick looked a little uncomfortable as he finally answered the police officers' silent question. "Look…Lucia never really celebrated her birthday when she was younger. It just didn't happen, and I hope you all know the reason why. Usually, the only thing we do to celebrate is do all of our homework really fast so we can clean the house, and then we cook dinner for her. All of us boys help, and usually Lucia either watches or does her own homework. For the rest of the night we usually just watch movies or go biking or blast music and dance around. We don't get her gifts, we don't sing happy birthday. It's pretty much a normal day for us, just a little different. But Lu's birthday is always special for her and Kyle."

"Why?" Greg prompted. "Is it because they're related?"

"No, well, partly," Ben answered. "None of us really care about who our parents are. It doesn't matter that Lucia and Kyle are related, or that we're all brothers. We're all a family, and we have been for awhile."

"So why is it more special to Lucia and Kyle?" Wordy asked softly.

John sighed. "It was on Lucia's birthday that they found out they're actually brother and sister," he said. "Today was the day they officially became siblings, and so today was always special." He held up a hand. "Don't ask us how they found out, because we don't exactly know. All we know is that they somehow found out. I know that Lucia was able to leave Jake and Lola's house, and Kyle went to live with her and whoever had come out and started fostering them together. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but that much I do know. So today was always a big deal for them."

"Kind of like an anniversary," Spike realized.

"Yeah," Ben said, a sad little smile on his lips. "And they always celebrate it. Sometimes they go running together in the morning before the rest of us are even awake, sometimes they go get ice cream or something after we go to bed. One time they made us these huge banana split sundaes, with all the toppings. They both were drenched in whipped cream, but they were grinning so wide, so we knew they had fun. It's always little stuff like that."

"So when we ordered Team Five to take the day off," Greg began.

"Kyle had nothing to keep him from thinking of this," Nick finished. "And with her missing, and social services hanging over our heads, we were assuming he was going to break down. We just thought he would come over here to do it."

"I think Ed said he was at the SRU," Wordy told them.

They shrugged in response. "All the better," John replied.

"Look, I don't mean to sound like I'm pressing here—"

"Kyle was never going to break down and let it all out in front of us," Nick interrupted Wordy. "We thought he might come over here to talk to you. But I can count on one hand the times I've seen Lucia or Kyle cry in front of us. Especially Justin. Look at it this way," he said, turning to Wordy. "When was the last time you yelled or cried in front of your kids?"

Wordy shrugged. "I don't know, I try not—hang on. They're not your parents, guys. They're your siblings."

"Our older siblings who have held this family together through the foster system, who take care of us, and who pay for our food and clothes. Well, our food. We've started paying for most of our clothes now."

"Wait a minute. How do they pay for these things?" Greg asked. "That's a lot of money to feed six people."

"Lu has a couple of jobs, and I have one as well," a new voice told them.

They turned to see the Lanes, Kyle, and Dean there. It was Kyle who had spoken, and he held out his hand to fist bump the triplets, silently asking how they were doing as he kept talking. "Plus, our house is paid for. It was an old CIA safe house, so… yeah they're pretty much paying bills. They're nice like that."

"How many jobs is a couple?" asked Dean.

"Three," Kyle responded immediately. "And they're all giving her a paid vacation right now because they're the best bosses ever and Lucia's never asked for a day off. They all like her."

"So that's where she was going when she was leaving Laser Quest," Clark realized.

Kyle nodded. "Yeah, Tony had called and asked if she could go to work that day, and she never says no unless there's a team gathering." He turned to the triplets. "What's going on? I just got a text from Justin saying someone tried to attack you guys. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Ben answered. "Wordy saw them and chased him down before he could attack or whatever. Right now we're just trying to figure out what's going on."

"Or trying to pry into your private life," John muttered under his breath. Kyle ignored him.

"Do you think it has to do with Lucia's kidnapping?"

Greg shrugged. "We don't know. Maybe. Probably, unless you have other enemies we're aware about."

Team One couldn't tell if the boys were joking as they thought about it. "Nah," Kyle finally answered. "There shouldn't be anyone else."

"Shouldn't be?" Ed asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kyle couldn't help but shrug. "Well, we were only interns, mostly running errands or learning how to catch a criminal, never actually meeting them face-to-face. You guys," he looked at the triplets, "didn't make any enemies, right? So we should be good."

It was silent as the adults tried to take in the seriousness they teens were displaying before John bent over, laughing. Ben and Nick were fighting to keep the smiles off their faces as Kyle just smirked. "Relax," Kyle told them. "Witnessing that murder was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. We don't usually make enemies. Everyone usually likes us too much because we're just awesome like that. So it has nothing to do with New York and probably everything to do with the fights. They want leverage."

"Well, they're not getting any," Greg said firmly. "Listen up, guys. Here's what we're going to do."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Lucia smirked as she finally got the cuffs off of her. She knew that she only had a few minutes before Jason realized that his keys were missing, so she had to make this quick. She rolled off the bed and threw her sneakers on, going quietly to the door.

Opening it, she glanced around and saw that there was no one there, at least no one that she could see. She threw on her hooded sweatshirt that she had also stolen from Jason and began to move.

This time, she would make sure she wouldn't get caught.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Do you think someone will really try to take the boys?" Shelley asked her husband as they lay in bed that night.

He waited a minute before answering. "I think they might. With the way the fights are going for Snips right now, they either need to get leverage or send her back before one kills her."

Shelley turned to her side, propping herself up with one arm. "Are they really that bad, Kev?" She had not seen any of the fights, and neither had the kids living with them. The boys had trusted Kyle when he said they wouldn't want to see it, and it had never been mentioned to Lily, Claire, or Ally.

He looked up and then over at her. "They're bad," he admitted. "But from what I hear, the crowds aren't liking it either. But we need to find her soon, Shell. Snips is strong, and I think she's able to make sure she doesn't get hurt too badly, but everyone has limits. I think she's close to reaching hers." He kissed her softly then added, "But either way, they won't get the boys. We SRU officers know a thing or two about protection details."

Shelley gave a small smile. "You'll find her," she insisted. "I know you will."

**So, I have been asked to have more Snips…well, I promise there will be more next chapter, but this chapter I had to do something with the Wordsworth household. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Tell me what you want, and I'll try to make it work!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello again my readers! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter! Without anything else to say (cause I really can't think of anything to say) here is some more words for you to read. **

**Oh, and by the way, I don't own Flashpoint.**

"Team One hot call! Hot call." Winnie's voice echoed through the hall and to the briefing room, where the elite police team was currently sitting. Automatically, the seven officers began to head out, gearing up and preparing themselves for whatever was waiting for them.

"What've we got, Winnie?" Sergeant Parker began, trying to gather information.

"Bomb threat," Winnie responded, hoping to see Spike smile at this news. She was rewarded with a call of 'Babycakes!' as the bomb expert went towards his anti-explosive robot. Winnie continued. "We've got a suitcase sitting in the middle of an airport, unis have already roped off the area and are waiting for your arrival."

Sergeant Parker nodded at the description. "Tell Team Five they're with us."

"Sir, are you sure?"

Parker nodded. "They've never really handled a bomb threat like this, and I know Whiz has been hoping to use Babycakes. Besides, they need something to keep their minds off of Snips for right now. Maybe this'll help them get a different point of view in tracking her down."

Winnie nodded and relayed the message, watching as Team Five came out and began to gear up, faces eager as they looked at their mentors. She now saw why Parker wanted Team Five to go with.

Though they seemed eager, Team Five looked exhausted. Ninja, especially, seemed like he hadn't slept at all. Winnie knew immediately that they were definitely going to keep the youngest in the truck. All of the others had some exhaustion showing in their faces, but she thought that it might be more from staring at Whiz trying to find Snips than actual exhaustion.

It made her think a moment: these kids were just that-_kids_. The older ones were only eighteen or nineteen, and the youngest was sixteen. When she was their age, she was worried about finals and getting into college. They were worried about that stuff _plus_ trying to find their missing teammate, missing sister. And they were just kids.

She shook her head sadly as the teams left the building, already trying to gather more information. She didn't know what else she could do to help.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"No. Please don't do this."

The softly begging voice only momentarily hesitated Jason as he approached the girl that was curled in on herself in the corner, watching him with wary and frightened eyes.

"I'll be good," she said softly. "Please. I won't run."

Honestly, Jason thought that she wouldn't be able to run. The last fight had truly given her a beating, and she was barely able to stay awake while he had patched her up. But he had thought that the first time, and several times after that. And each time, she had surprised him and tried to escape at the first opportunity. The last time, she had nearly gotten out of the building before he caught up to her. He shook his head. "Sorry, kid," he said, really meaning it. "I don't have a choice."

She didn't have time to reply before he grabbed her arm and injected the needle's contents into it, watching as she almost immediately crashed, that day's fight and her exhaustion from not sleeping anyway combined with the drug. He closed his eyes sadly as he heard one more soft plea as he carried her towards the bed.

"I just want to go home."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"All right. So this here moves Babycakes."

"Like a game controller."

Spike grinned at his self-proclaimed protégée. "Exactly," he agreed. "And Babycakes is up to withstanding any bomb that people throw at us, and this way we're able to get in and check it out without bringing any possible harm to ourselves."

Despite his worry over his missing Team Leader, Whiz had to grin. "Awesome." He couldn't help it; this was so much cooler than hacking into websites. This was where the real fun was. He looked at Spike in awe as the older man handed him the controller, motioning him to set Babycakes rolling. Carefully, he grabbed it and began to move the anti-explosive robot into position. Spike began pointing out different features of what Babycakes could do as Whiz obeyed every command, beginning to look into the suitcase.

Up on his perch, Sam looked through his scope, eyeing all the people that were watching. "Boss, I've got a guy, blue jeans, red polo, black baseball cap to your left, holding something in his hand. Can't make it out, but he's not doing anything but holding it. Possible detonator."

"Copy that, Sam," Sergeant Parker responded. "Lou, take Wordy and check it out."

"Copy that," the two men replied, heading off.

Sergeant Parker looked around him, focusing for a moment on the teens surrounding him. He knew as he watched them that he had made the right call.

All they were allowed to do was watch at this moment, but this was their first official bomb threat that they've ever witnessed. He knew that they had dealt with one during their Final Exam, but he didn't count that. Then, they had to deal with it on their own and hope that Whiz had paid enough attention to Spike that they could deactivate the bomb. Here, they were finally able to see how Team One properly handled bomb threats.

They were all listening intently, even Ninja, his tired eyes finding new life as he listened to Spike give Whiz instructions.

Sergeant Parker focused once again as Wordy reported. "Approaching possible subject now."

"Copy that. Go with caution."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Jason watched as the kid slept, listening to the phone that was pulled up to his ear at the same time. Everything was apparently going according to plan and they were closing in on their target. He nodded and made sure they knew exactly who to bring in before hanging up. He wouldn't take another mess up.

Shaking his head, he pulled the blankets up around the shivering girl on the bed, wishing yet again that he didn't have to do this. But orders were orders, and he would follow them.

He sighed and left the room, making sure the door was locked securely behind him. He was not about to have another incident on his hands.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"I don't have a clue what's going on, man, I swear."

It took every ounce of self-control Lou and Wordy had not to roll their eyes. Lou made the first case. "You mean that you want us to believe that you just happened to be holding what looks like a detonator at what happens to be a bomb threat and expect us to believe that you have no idea what's going on?"

"Seriously, man, I'm just doing what the guy asked."

This got the two SRU men's attention. "What guy? What did he ask?" Wordy demanded.

"Like, seriously, man, he offered $500 if I came and stood here with this."

"Boss we've got something here."

"What's going on, Lou?"

"The subject that Sam spotted claims that he was paid to come and stand here with the detonator."

Sergeant Parker took off his cap and scratched at the back of his head. "What did he look like? Did he say why he wanted him here?"

Lou looked over at where Wordy was trying to get more answers out of the subject and sighed. "Honestly, Sarge, this guy looks high. I think he won't even remember his own name at this point. But it doesn't make sense. Why do this? Were they trying to get us to come out here?"

"I'm not sure," Parker admitted, "but it's a possibility. The question, if they did, is why? Why bring us out here?" He turned to look over at Team Five, who were all staring back at him with concern. "Why exactly do they want us out here?"

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Don't say anything. Raise your right hand and take your earpiece out of your ear. Do it now."

The man had no choice but to comply, not wanting to give these men any reason to shoot him with the gun that was currently pointed at his head. Besides, there was no doubt that the Boss would soon be calling for him to check in. He just prayed that Parker would check in soon.

He was running through his options, trying to determine how many men were behind him. He had only heard one voice, but he had counted at least three different footsteps that echoed on the rooftop. He knew he could probably take all three, he was well trained, after all, but he didn't know if there were more. Besides, he was kneeling from where he had been looking through his scope. He didn't know what they were planning, but he knew that he had to make his move soon, and so prepared to move.

As he had kept facing forward, though, he didn't have a chance to see the needle before it was injected into his neck, the fast-acting drug already working to ship him off to the land of unconsciousness.

_So there was another one._

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Okay, everyone just calm down. Spike, can you get any cameras?"

"I'm trying, Boss, but it seems like they've all been deactivated. These guys are pros."

Parker took off his hat and scratched the back of his head before replacing the headwear. He looked over at his son and the rest of the cadets before briefly closing his eyes. This was not how the call was supposed to go. "Okay. Spike, keep searching the cameras, see if you can get any street cams, maybe a shot of them before they entered the building, anything. Eddie, you there?"

"Here, Boss."

"Good. Lou and Jules are coming up to join you now. See if you can find any evidence of who took Sam. We need something, anything to piece this together. Was there a struggle? Did he go with them? Any evidence of if he knew them or not, if this was a grudge, anything. I want to know. Wordy, ask around and see if anyone saw anything. Ask if they noticed someone go into the building, see if they saw Sam and someone else coming out. We need to know now."

"Copy that, Boss."

"Dad?"

"Yeah, Dean."

"Do you think, well…"

"Does this have to do with Snips?" came Wheels' blunt interruption.

Sergeant Parker looked again at Team Five, eyebrows raised. He had honestly not considered that. "Look, guys. This is a dangerous job in and of itself. This could have nothing to do with Snips."

"Or it could have everything to do with her," Ninja said, standing up. "We have to assume that it was the group that kidnapped Snips that went after the triplets that day, and ever since then, you've had a protection detail around us pretty much twenty-four seven. We either have them, or we're at your house, or something. The point being, they can't touch us. They know they'll never reach us, so what if they used this to draw us out specifically? What if they wanted you to come here, knowing that you'd have at least one person by himself watching from above? What if they planned this so they could take someone?"

"To what end?" Parker questioned. "Especially Sam? He's a trained Special Forces officer, and an SRU officer. Why take him? Even if they didn't pick Sam or didn't know about his training, why take one of our team? We—"

"Because Snips doesn't care if you're older or younger," Sarge interrupted quietly. "She doesn't care if Sam is military trained, she doesn't care if Ed is fully capable of dealing with pain. If she sees a way to stop someone else's pain, especially if she knows she's the reason they're being hurt; she'll do anything to stop it. Even fight when all she wants is to go home."

"Boss, they have a point," Ed said over the headset. "We also kept Team Five in the truck, so there was no way anyone was going to reach them. It stands to reason that someone might've taken one of us to use against Snips. We were the ones training them, after all."

"All right, I see your point," Parker admitted. "But while we're not going to ignore that, we also can't jump straight to that conclusion either. If we do, we might miss an entirely different reason. For all we know, this could just be a random abduction. This could have something to do with Sam's father. This could have something to do with his time in the army. But we will consider that point too, I promise."

Right now, he'd consider everything. Just the millions of possibilities were giving him a headache.

**You know what I love more than anything in the world? REVIEWS! I LOVE REVIEWS! So guess what you should do? Review! Pretty please? Tell me what you like, what you hate, what you want to see happen! Review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey friends…**

**So, this has been a hectic week but here you are, the next chapter in ****_I just want to go home_****.**

**But guess what—I don't own flashpoint**

"NO! Stop it!"

Sam clenched his jaw as his body jerked in reaction to the electricity coursing through his body. His eyes remained closed as he tried to fight off the pain, trying and succeeding in not screaming, though he desperately wanted to, if only to release some of the pain. But he knew he couldn't; couldn't let her hear.

_Her_ was Snips, who was currently being subdued by two men and a pair of handcuffs. She was fighting with everything she had, but it seemed not to be enough. Another man was currently playing with a taser, apparently trying to decide where on Sam's body the weapon would do the most damage.

"C'mon kid, you know what we want."

Sam opened his eyes as he heard the voice, the electricity coming to a halt. He could see the indecision on Snips' face, could see her wavering. "Don't, Snips," he said, forcing his voice to be strong. "Don't."

He could see the way the word _Snips_ caught her attention. The way she looked at him, as if trying to verify that he could indeed take it. He saw the way she straightened her shoulders as much as she could and began to glare at her captors instead of breaking down. Sam glared as much as he could at taser-man before the maniac narrowed his eyes, held up the taser, and started again.

Sam didn't scream as he arched his back, trying to escape the lightening running through his body. He wouldn't scream.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Sam?"

He managed not to groan in answer to her, though just barely. He was aware of someone else in the room, and he would _not_ show weakness. He could feel Snips move away from him, towards the other person in the room. He paid little attention to their conversation, though.

"Please, Jason."

"Sorry, kid. No can do."

"_Please._"

There were a few moments of silence, and then a nearly inaudible sigh. Sam didn't know what exactly happened, but he soon felt this mystery person Jason move towards him, Snips close beside him, and tried to prepare. Though what, exactly, he was preparing for was beyond him. He felt Jason and Snips place their hands on him and begin to move him onto his back, and he bit back a moan. But when Jason began to lightly press against a particularly tender spot, Sam had not choice but to give in to the pushing darkness.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

When Sam finally managed to make his way back into consciousness, he immediately took notice of the shackles around his wrist and ankle. They were tight, which was bad, but not biting into his skin, which was good. He took a moment to mentally look over his wounds and was surprised to find them addressed. He could feel the scratch of bandages against his legs and torso where taser-man had finally gotten bored of the taser and began to just punch Braddock, going to the point where he had acquired a set a brass knuckles to repeatedly bash the SRU officer, slicing through the skin. Those open wounds were currently closed and bandaged, which was the biggest surprise. Did Snips do it?

Thinking of the eighteen—no, nineteen-year-old cadet was enough to get Braddock to open his eyes, and he began to take in his surroundings.

The girl sitting against the bed, legs drawn up to her chest and eyes downcast caught his attention right away. He took a breath, trying to judge if his voice was going to come out hoarse or not, and began to speak. "Hey, Snips." Good. It came out strong and steady. His training instructors would be proud.

Her head snapped up, eyes wide. "Sam?"

"Don't act so surprised. It takes a lot more than a taser and some brass knuckles to kill me," he retorted playfully. He got a half-smile for his attempt at a joke before she looked away again. "You okay, Snips?" he asked while he looked at the chains that were holding him. She didn't answer, instead opting to crawl closer to him and inspect the chains with him. "Don't suppose you have a key for these?" he asked.

She shrugged and got up, walking over to where a punching bag was hanging. Sam watched as she reached up to the chains that were holding it and reached up to draw out two very thin poles of metal, each only about three inches long. Sam raised an eyebrow, but the teen merely shrugged, not offering any explanation as she handed them over.

Sam took care of the cuff around his wrist first before concentrating on the one around his ankle. "Nice," he commented when he was finally free. "Where'd you get these?"

Her only answer was a shrug.

"Hey," he said softly, lightly grabbing hold of her chin and grinning. "What do you say we get out of here?"

Instead of getting a replying grin that he was expecting of his young friend, she only looked away. "It won't work," she whispered. "It never does."

He frowned; now seeing for himself what being in this place had done to her. Snips had never seemed like the type to give up, especially when it came to being with her friends and family. So for her to automatically give up on escaping spoke volumes. "It never does, huh? Are you an expert on me, now?"

She glared at him. "No, Braddock, and I never claimed to be," she snapped. "But I have been here for forever, and trust me when I say there's no way out."

"No way out?"

"Don't mimic me, Braddock. I'm not one of your subjects."

"I'm not saying you are, Snips," he replied, hands raised in surrender. He watched as some of her fire came back into her eyes at the name 'Snips'. "What I'm saying is that two heads are often better than one, and with my training and your knowledge of this place, well, how can we fail?"

He watched with some satisfaction, as a tiny smirk appeared on the young Team Leader's face.

Point to Sam.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Kid, I've told you not to do this."

Jason's only answer was a scowl, and he raised an eyebrow. It had been awhile since she had actually scowled at him instead of looking away. He closed his eyes briefly before opening them again, staring her down. After a few seconds, she finally looked away. "You know you're in trouble, right? And I can't stop this."

"You can stop it," she retorted. Jason was beginning to regret bringing someone else in to use against the kid. Instead of breaking her, it gave her a mouth. "You can just let us go home, but _nooo_, you just had to catch us and bring us back here. All we want is to go home, Jason. Is that so much to ask?"

Held between two guards, the blonde began to laugh. "Man, I've missed your comments," he said, and the girl gave him a small grin. "You really think you can keep us here for long? My team is going to track us down, and when they do, it'll be better for you if you just let us go now. Trust me."

One of the guards holding him punched him in the stomach, and he doubled over, but came back up grinning. He got another slap on his face. "Keep talking, blondie," he sneered. "We'll see who's laughing when I'm done with you."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"What's up, Whiz?"

Sarge and Wheels, the latter being the temporary team leader of team five, looked at their tech. The teen sighed and looked up at him. "I might have a way to find them," he said.

"Find who? Snips and Sam?" Sarge asked. Whiz nodded.

"So you think that Sam was taken by whoever took Snips."

Whiz shrugged. "It's the only thing that makes sense," he said. "They can't get to her brothers, so they take the person that was alone and easy to take. Team One is looking into other options, so if this is really a grudge, they'll find him. Either way, this can't hurt."

"What can't hurt?" Sarge asked. "You said you might have a way to find them?"

Whiz fidgeted. "Yeah," he began hesitantly, "but it's not exactly…legal."

"What do you mean? How…illegal…is it?"

The teen shrugged. "It depends on how far he needs to go."

"How far who needs to go?"

"A hacker friend of mine. He's really good, the best of the best, probably better than Spike. I think he could find Snips, and he owes me a favor, and—"

Wheels held up a hand to cut off the babbling, and Whiz shut up. "We don't care if it's illegal or not," he said, glancing over at Sarge, who nodded with troubled eyes. "It's been over a month, and we're not any closer to finding her. Do it, but do it _quietly_."

Whiz nodded. "It might take awhile, and I can't promise he'll find her," he warned, but the two teens shrugged.

"We haven't been able to find her so far. What have we got to lose?"

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Sergeant Parker ran his hand over his face as he listened to his team throwing out ideas, suggestions, anything that might help them find Sam. "Yes, Jules."

"Boss, we do have to consider the possibility that whoever took Snips took Sam as well."

"If they did," Spike said, "we're in serious trouble. Whiz and I have been trying to trace the website back to its source, but we're getting nowhere. It's been over a month now and we still have gotten no closer to finding her. I'm pretty sure Whiz is continuing to try and trace it even when he's not here. We're just getting nowhere."

"Alright," Sergeant Parker agreed. "Jules, Spike, I want you to look more into that possibility. Spike, see if there's anything new on screen. Jules, I want you to go around, question people. Take Lou with you. We need to get answers. Maybe there are some people who watch this web show. In fact, Spike, see if you can find the name of viewers. Maybe we'll get more answers that way."

"On it, Boss."

"The rest of us, I want us looking into the past few days of Sam's life. See if he got any strange emails, threats, anything. Maybe look into his father's, as well. This could very well be a Braddock incident."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Kyle, just ignore him. C'mon."

Red's pleading voice did nothing to calm the irate nerves of her boyfriend. Mike Reynolds going on wasn't a help, either.

"I hear she dropped out of college, that she finally cracked and is running away from you guys."

Kyle tried to ignore him as he headed towards his next class, but seeing as Reynolds was going into the same room it was getting extremely difficult. The teacher was there, but was deep in papers to grade, and so not paying much attention to her students. But each word was getting under his skin, until—

"You know, she probably is sick of you and your disgusting brothers. Wouldn't be surprised if she tried to off herself like the coward that she is."

"Kyle," Red said worriedly, "he's just a jerk who doesn't know what he's talking about. C'mon."

"_What_ did you say?" Kyle asked quietly, each word screaming danger.

"Mike, back off," Red hissed, but the idiot just kept talking, apparently oblivious to the dangerous territory he was approaching.

"I said," Reynolds reiterated, "she'll off herself like the coward that she is."

He didn't see the fist that flew towards his face and knocked him against the ground. Every kid gasped and circled around, beginning to chant "Fight! Fight! Fight!" while Red rolled her eyes at their immaturity while trying to get to Kyle. "Kyle!" she said, pulling uselessly on his arm. "Stop. He's not worth it."

But he ignored her warning and snapped out a kick with his right leg, twirling around to land an elbow to Reynolds' unprotected face, knocking him the rest of the way to the ground. By this time the teacher was trying to make her way through the wall of students to the fighting boys. Or, well, fighting _boy_.

She tried to stop Kyle, but to no avail. Kyle just wasn't having it. He let Reynolds pick himself up, then leapt up and kicked out straight with both legs and fell to the ground, but easily jumped to his feet again, waiting for his foe to get up again.

Red tried, again, to get Kyle to stop, but his eyes were focused on his enemy. Nothing seemed like it would break it until—

"Ninja."

At once, Ninja calmed, stepping back and basically falling into an attention stance. Red rushed over to him as Sarge checked over Reynolds before standing up.

Ninja clenched his fists and worked on sniper breathing like Ed was teaching to the young team as he began to calm down again. He felt horrible, this was the second time he had lost his cool, and this time it had put an innocent civilian in danger. Well, maybe not completely innocent…but Ninja knew that Reynolds stood no chance when compared to him. And he had attacked anyway.

He nodded at Red's silent question and managed to catch the last bit of Sarge's talk with his teacher. "…So Red and Ninja will unfortunately have to miss some school. They are needed on urgent SRU business."

"Of…of course," she stammered, still seeming stunned by what was happening. Sarge nodded sharply and shook her hand, then headed towards his two teammates. "Grab your things," he ordered. "Hot call."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Sam barely breathed as the gun shoved against his head, cold steel pressing against his right temple, scraping against his skin. He breathed steadily to control the pain raging inside of him, trying to make sure that he didn't move. For one quarter of an inch, just an ounce of weight, and he would die, the bullet impacting into his skull.

"Well?"

Sam could only groan as his torn up feet received another hit.

"I won't wait forever. And you have plenty more people you care about, so what's it going to be?"

"Stop." Sam tried to shake his head, but only received a blow to the head for his troubles. "I'll fight. Just stop."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Well, I think we have our proof," Ninja announced as he walked into the room.

"What proof?" Sarge asked.

"This," he replied, turning the computer to face his teammates. They were currently in Ninja's room, waiting for Whiz to get done talking with his friend and meet them here. Intrigued, everyone looked at the computer.

"They updated about five minutes ago," Ninja said, clicking replay on one video link. Everyone watched as Snips faced her opponent. They waited with held breath as they expected her to go down once again.

Instead, she ran straight for her opponent, jumping up and over his shoulder, grabbing his neck and using her momentum to throw him to the ground, cracking his head on her knee. He was unconscious before he even hit the floor.

"She's fighting," Wheels whispered.

"Which only means one thing," Sarge affirmed.

"They've got Sam."

**Dun dun dunnnnn… Now, something really important that I need your help with.**

**I've reached a bit of a writer's block. Normally I have the next chapter at least halfway finished when I update, but I've got nothing right now. So please, review and say what you think will happen, what you will like to see happen, or whatever. I need a bit of a jumpstart and I think you guys can help! Please?**


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you to those who reviewed, it was a huge help! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Flashpoint**

"Dad!"

Sergeant Parker turned around, surprised to see just Clark, Dean, and Whiz. "What's up, guys?"

Still surprising him, Dean called over Ed and Spike as well. Then, Whiz began to speak, mostly to Spike. "I know why we haven't been able to trace the origin point from that website," he began.

"Go on," Spike encouraged.

"Well, see, I asked this…friend," Whiz hedged, "to help me out. We hadn't been able to find anything, and he's really good, and so—"

Sergeant Parker cut him off. "What did they find, Whiz?"

"The reason we haven't been able to find the origin point is because there are multiple. My friend said that there are at least two main points, bouncing around to avoid being tracked. But he was able to isolate the two."

Lane began to call the rest of Team One together as Spike continued to question Whiz. "Where, Whiz? Where?"

Whiz pulled out his phone and pulled up a map with a blinking light on it. "Here's one," he said, releasing the phone into Spike's grip.

"This is about ten minutes away from us," Spike reported.

"All right, Team One gear up. Hot call," Parker called out. He was stopped by Dean.

"Let us come," he pleaded. "Snips is a part of our team. Please, dad."

But the sergeant was shaking his head. "Sorry guys, but no. Not this time."

"Sir, she's a part of Team Five," Clark argued.

"And the people that took her have made it more than obvious they don't care about hurting teenagers," Ed countered. "You guys have to stay here. I don't want anyone from Team Five anyone near this place, is that understood?" he ordered, phrasing it more like a statement than a question.

All three teenagers glared at him before reluctantly nodding. Ed placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "If she's there, we'll find her," he assured. "Just stay here."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"All right team, stay alert."

Team Five crowded around Winnie's desk as they listened in on the conversation. Ed's voice came over the comm. "This place looks abandoned, guys."

Spike spoke. "Well, let's hope that in this case, looks are deceiving. Because we're reading the right coordinates. This is the right place."

"All right, everyone use extreme caution. Jules, Lou, report."

"Ready and waiting," Jules responded.

"We're ready as well," Spike confirmed for him and Wordy.

"All right, all teams enter in 3,2,1."

For a few tense moments there was nothing but silence as every member of Team Five stilled. They heard a few vague calls of "Clear!" until finally Parker spoke again.

"All right, it looks like this place is abandoned. There's nothing here, guys."

Sarge stalked off while Ninja turned to Red. Everyone else groaned as Whiz ran his hand through his hair. They all knew he planned to contact this 'friend' of his to see if he could get a lock on the other location.

"Hey Boss, come take a look at this!" they heard Wordy call. Instantly Team Five was back around the desk. "What is this place?"

"It's definitely the fight ring," Jules affirmed. "So why is no one here?"

"Maybe they all come at a certain time?" Spike guessed.

"But the videos come at all different hours," Jules retorted. "And if they come at certain times, where are they keeping Snips in the meantime?"

"So what, they abandoned this place? How could they possible know we were coming?"

"Maybe they didn't. Maybe they had moved earlier and …"

"Maybe they were never here at all," Ed interrupted.

"Then why is there a ring that looks like the one Snips had been fighting in?" Spike challenged. "I think we had good intel, we just got here too late."

"Well, if they were here, they moved out a long time ago."

"All right, see if we can find anything that tells us where they took Snips."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Hey, kiddo."

Red settled down next to Jules, who put down the folder she was reading. Jules let out a sad little smile as she saw what Red was wearing: one of Sam's old army sweatshirts. "Where else could they be, Jules? They had to have been there."

"We'll find them, Dani. Besides, Sam might not even be with Snips."

"She started fighting, Jules," Red insisted. "She wouldn't fight unless she had to."

"I know," Jules agreed. "And everything with the General has come up empty-handed. This has nothing to do with Sam's family."

"And everything to do with Snips," Red pushed.

"I agree."

"So what do we do?"

"Well, one thing would be going back to school." Jules raised an eyebrow and Red just looked down. "Dean had no authority to pull you and Kyle out of school like that. I know that Ryan and Sean are already out because they're graduating in a few weeks but you two still have school."

"I know, but…Jules, Kyle couldn't stay in school. He's losing control of himself more and more the longer Snips is missing." Jules stayed quiet at the look in her young charge's eyes. "He…he really hurt Mike that day, Jules. I tried to get him to stop, but he wouldn't listen. Part of me thought…"

"Thought that he might try to what, Dani?" Jules asked softly when Red trailed off.

"Part of me thought he might try to kill him."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Hey," Sam said softly.

Snips didn't say anything, just curled in more on herself, pressing closer to Sam. He shifted so that he could put an arm around her and pull her close. She allowed it, body shaking slightly, and Sam knew she was barely holding back sobs. He remained quiet for a few minutes to allow her to gain some control before speaking again. She needed to take her mind off of things here for a while, and he had a pressing question on his mind. He nudged her a bit to get her attention.

"What was the deal you made with your social workers? We're all trying to figure it out."

Her confusion was plain on her face. "What are you talking about?"

"Aaron Johnson and Steve Krakes?"

This time she pulled away. "Sam, what are you talking about? Who are they?"

He stared back at her. "They came in and said that they were your social workers and you guys had a deal. They were going to try and take your brothers into the foster system until Wordy said that he would take them in. They didn't look too happy with that."

Snips was shaking her head, confusion replaced with fear. "Sam, we only have one social worker. And her name is Maya Dorski."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Hey, Ninja! Does Snips know sign language?"

Ninja turned to stare in confusion at Wheels. "What?"

"You know, sign language? Where you talk with your hands?"

Ninja rolled his eyes. "I know what sign language is, Wheels. Why are you asking if Snips knows it?"

"Because I'm pretty sure she's signing something, and I know I don't know it."

Ninja drew his brows together as he came to sit next to Wheels. They had taken shifts of watching to see if Snips would reappear on the computer for a fight. Right now was Wheels' watch, and sure enough, his sister was moving her hands together as she dodged and darted around her opponent. "She never mentioned learning it to me. I mean, our family had a couple of shorthand signs in case of trouble, but I don't think she ever learned it."

"But I bet Sam has," Sarge interrupted.

Both teens turned to stare at their leader approaching them. "What?"

"Sam was in the military," he reminded them. "Maybe they had to learn it for there. Either way, she's definitely trying to get a message across."

"But…who do we know that knows sign language?" Wheels asked. He turned to Ninja.

But the sixteen-year-old was raising his hands in a don't-look-at-me gesture. "I told you. Our family has shorthand signs, but I don't know sign language. You?" A quick shake was answer enough, but Ninja's head shot up. "Nick," he breathed.

"What?"

"Nick was trying to befriend this deaf girl at our old school," he shot out. "So he learned some of the basic stuff. Maybe he kept up with it. C'mon." With that, he darted out of the house, computer in hand, and headed for Wordy's house, praying that Nick was there. The other two followed him.

Ninja barged through the front door without even a hello to Shelley, who stared after the three boys in confusion, opting to dash up the stairs and straight into the rooms the boys shared.

"Nick, do you still know sign?"

The face Nick pulled was almost comical, if the situation hadn't been so intense. Luckily, he didn't question and instead nodded. Ninja turned the computer to face his brother. "We think Lu is trying to sign something," he explained. "Can you tell what she's saying?"

"Play it again," Nick instructed, grabbing his pencil and homework sheet. Ninja replayed it five more times before Nick shrugged and looked up. "It doesn't make sense to me, but I'm pretty sure she's signing 'S W FRAUD' over and over again. I might be wrong, but I think that's it. But it doesn't make sense."

"S W FRAUD?" Ninja repeated. "S W FRAUD."

It was tossed around the room, spoken with different inflections by each person. "Okay," Sarge finally stopped them. "We all know what fraud means. So we have to assume that S W stands for something that's fake."

"But what?"

"And what would be so important that Snips would learn how to sign it?" Nick wondered. "Because I know she didn't know how to sign before."

That's how Shelley found them twenty minutes later when she came to check on them. Ben, Nick, and John were sitting on Nick's bed, mouthing silently to themselves. Ninja was pacing and Sarge and Wheels were playing with pencils while they also mouthed something to themselves. Justin was coloring.

"Boys?" she asked hesitantly. All heads snapped up to her except Ninja's. "There are some men talking to Kevin right now about you five," she said, pointing to Ninja and his brothers. "I believe their names are Aaron and Steve?"

"Oh my gosh," Ninja breathed. Everyone turned to stare at him. "S W" He looked around at them all. "Social worker. Aaron Johnson and Steve Krakes are frauds. They're not our social workers. Snips never made a deal with them, because Snips doesn't even know them."

"Than how does she know about the deal?"

"Sam," Sarge answered. "Sam must've asked her about it. We've all been wanting to ask her, and he had the opportunity. He must've told her about then coming for you guys, and when she didn't know who they were, they came up with a plan to tell us. Those men are posing as your social workers," he told Ninja. "The question is, why?"

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"I told you that those boys are staying here," Wordy said, voice level. But his eyes betrayed his fury. "They are safe here."

"Someone tried to kidnap them," Johnson retorted. "Obviously they aren't safe enough. We're taking them with us, to put them into the government's hands."

They had been having this for the past ten minutes, each party refusing to move on their standpoint. Wordy opened his mouth to retaliate, but a new voice beat him to it.

"Now, that's interesting."

All three men looked up to see Ninja, Sarge, and Wheels descending the stairs. It was Ninja who had spoken.

"Why would you think someone tried to kidnap us?"

Wordy closed his mouth and turned to face the men, suspicion on his face. He hadn't caught that little tidbit, so caught up in trying to convince them to let the boys stay with him.

"We heard about it," Krakes informed Ninja, voice icy. "Anything that happens to you five has to be reported to us. We are, after all, in charge of you." He had slipped out a small smile at the end.

Ninja smiled politely right back. "Well, see, that's what I find so interesting," he said pleasantly. "We never reported that someone tried to kidnap us, because we never knew if someone had."

Johnson swallowed, but Krakes kept up his little smile. "Well, someone must have reported it, because it came back to us."

But Ninja was shaking his head, coming up to meet him, Sarge and Wheels flanking him on either side. Wordy, the poor guy, had no idea what was going on, but was getting a little nervous with Ninja's tone. The kid was being way too nice.

"See, we never reported it, because Wordy here had a little chat with the man. He had just been walking along the water and came into the backyard without realizing it."

"So he had to run and get a friend to help him get away?"

That's when Ninja hardened. His face, his tone, his body, everything. "Now how can you know that?" he asked, still polite. "Because no one knew that the man had a partner except for Team One and us," he indicated his friends behind him. "And I know no one told you."

**To my guest reviewer: the team will be gearing up to find Snips next chapter, I think. Because next up, Team Five starts to break some rules.**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I love reviews, and they really do help me get inspiration for continuing! So hit that little button and tell me what's on your mind! What do you want to see? Or what do you think will happen?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you to those who reviewed! It was awesome, and here is your next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Flashpoint**

"Let me fight in her place."

"Not happening."

"Her wrist is fractured, her eye so swollen she can barely see out of it," Sam began to list. "Her bruised ribs are giving her trouble breathing, she can barely stand—"

He was prepared to continue but Jason interrupted him. "Because you are able to stand so much easier."

He had a point. Right now, Sam was balanced on his toes, flexing his knees as she subtly shifted his weight to keep any pressure off his heavily beaten feet. He didn't even have time to shift to a defensive position before Jason shoved him lightly, sending him stumbling back onto the bed.

Snips shot up with a jolt, eyes wide and terrified as she tried to find out who was on her bed. She didn't even seem to recognize Sam as she kicked him off and crawled backwards to the corner of the bed, drawing her knees close and wrapping her arms around them. She was shaking badly.

Sam and Jason stared at her in shock, each trying to wrap their minds around what had just happened. Jason turned and left the room, locking it behind him as Sam struggled to stand up. With a grimace, he decided to just use his arms to pull himself onto the bed. What was the point of doing pull-ups if you never used the skill?

"Snips?" he asked softly. He crawled slowly towards her, but her head whipped up, eyes unrecognizing as she hissed at him.

"Get. Away."

Sam froze where he was, mind furiously racing to catch up with the facts before him and hoping against hope that what he was thinking was not true. "Snips? It's me. It's Sam. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Stay away," she ordered, still seemingly unable to recognize him.

He nodded. "Staying away," he confirmed, replaying her words. "I'm not going to hurt you." He half recognized the look in her eyes, a look that he knew he sometimes wore after waking badly, a look he had seen passed around on each of his unit mates in Kandahar. Soldier or not, Snips was acting like she was in a war zone, and it would not be a good idea to startle her.

They sat like that for about ten minutes; her curled into herself on the corner of the bed, him barely sitting on the edge, watching her. Finally she sighed and began to speak. "It's not what you think," she began softly.

"What's not what I think?" He hoped it was not what he thought.

"For the weeks before you came here, Sam, each time I was woken up, it was to go to another fight. I'm just wary, that's all."

He knew that wasn't it. Her response was too thought out to be an immediate reply. So he waited patiently, hoping she would end the charade and tell him the real reason.

"I never let them touch me," she whispered.

"Never let who touch you?"

She shrugged and winced. Immediately he moved closer to check the bandaging around her various injuries, starting with her wrist. She continued to whisper as he worked.

"I don't know who they are. They broke into here a couple weeks before you were brought."

"What happened?" he asked carefully.

"I was sleeping. Next thing I know they were trying to get on top of me. So I let them know that was a bad idea. Nothing since." A pause, then she added, "I think it helped that Jason began to double lock the door. I'm pretty sure he's the only one with a key."

"I'm sorry, Lucia."

She looked up at the sound of her real name and wondered why he chose it. "I want to go home, Sam."

He moved until his back was also to the wall, drawing her into his protective embrace, silently vowing to not let anyone come near her like that again. "I know, kiddo. I know."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"So who are you?"

Ninja hadn't made a move, choosing instead to stay perfectly still, perfectly at ease. Sarge and Wheels copied him, hands folded across their chests, polite interest on their faces. Wordy hastily texted his boss as he wished fervently that he kept a firearm at home. But he had thought it was best not to with his three girls at home. Maybe, he thought, it was time to reconsider that option. But the teen was now speaking again, and this time it wasn't as Ninja, but as a teen who was missing his sister. "Where is my sister?"

Krakes continued talking for him and Johnson. "We don't know, Kyle. How could we know?"

Wordy let Kyle continue to talk. "Fine, you say you don't know. I don't really believe you, but I'll let it slide. What's this deal you say you made with Lucia?"

"I'm afraid that's between your sister and us," Krakes said calmly.

"Well," Wordy interrupted, "seeing that Lucia is currently unavailable, I believe that it makes sense for you to release that information to Kyle."

"Kyle is a minor," Krakes retorted. "We can't release that information to him."

"As Kyle's current guardian, you can release it to me, then," Wordy replied.

Kyle's phone went off once as Krakes again spoke. "I'm afraid that's not possible."

"Why is that?" Kyle asked innocently. "Is it because you and Lucia made a private agreement? Or is it because you never made an agreement with her in the first place?"

Krakes smiled thinly. "Of course we have an agreement," he said smoothly. "We are your social workers, and we've had multiple meetings with your sister."

"That's funny. You see, Lucia and I share everything, and she's never mentioned you. I was working my brain, trying to figure out some reason. Trying to find out why she would keep this from me. Then something happened today that finally put the puzzle pieces in place. And I asked someone to make a call." He glanced down at his phone once. "You said your names were Aaron Johnson and Steve Krakes, correct?" Both men nodded once, Johnson fidgeting as Krakes narrowed his eyes. "Yes. So tell me, are those nicknames at all? You know, I'm sure you can find a way to make Maya Dorski turn into Steve Krakes."

Both men froze. "I'm sorry, who?" Krakes questioned politely, those his gritted teeth made it sound a little strangled.

Kyle smiled politely right back. "Maya Dorski? Our social worker? I had someone call and confirm who you were. Apparently our social worker isn't even a man, but a nice woman named Maya Dorski. I do believe she's on her way here."

Wordy worked hard to keep the grin off his face at the scene playing out before him. These men were taken down (in words this time, not fists) by a kid half their height, and definitely at least half their age. He subtly indicated to Kyle to let him take over, and was acknowledged by the barest of head nods. Wordy could hear the turning of tires as his boss came up the drive, and began to speak. "I think it would be best if you stepped back," he advised the men who were currently advancing towards the teens. He didn't even do it for the boys' safety, more for the men. Kyle was a little high-strung lately, and Wordy could see in the light glint that he was itching for a fight. Wordy filed away the note to have a hand-to-hand combat with him later. For now, he waited as the men seemed to hesitate then acknowledged his advice and moved away from the teens. Soon Sergeant Parker came in, behind him a woman who was about a head shorter than Wordy, dressed smartly in a smooth black skirt and pretty red top, carrying a purse on her left arm.

Wordy watched as Kyle twitched in minute recognition of the woman, before a triumphant smirk worked its way onto his face as the men who had terrorized his brothers with threats of foster care were now being brought to a stop.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Sam waited patiently as Snips flinched awake, breathing heavily and glancing wildly around. He smiled lightly as her wide gaze finally landed on him and her breathing seemed to calm. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

She nodded shortly, getting out of the bed and going into the bathroom attached to it. Sam could hear the water running and he knew she was splashing the liquid onto her face. He waited for her to come back, moving his arm a little to try and make it more comfortable. The chain was beginning to cut off some of his circulation, but he smiled at Snips as she came out of the bathroom again, her eyes cutting to his new bracelet.

"I think they're getting tired of chasing us," he joked. Snips smirked slightly, but Sam could see right through it—he saw the bone deep exhaustion that plagued her entire body. He wished that he could let her sleep for as long as she needed, but it wasn't even just Jason coming in to get her prepared for a fight that woke her. It was a slight shift from him, a person walking in the hallway outside, a bird calling outside the building. It was the nightmares that plagued her at night, the dreams she never shared with him. The things he couldn't protect her from.

All he could do was offer what comfort he could as she folded in on herself, pressing close to him. He put his arm around her, steadying his breathing to close to sniper breathing, knowing she would match hers with his. It was all he could offer, and he wished it was enough.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"I recognize you," Kyle was saying to Maya. "You were talking with Mary and Dave once, right?"

Maya was nodding. "More than once," she agreed, smiling. "They would come to me with questions on the way we do things here, since you are originally from New York. Your sister had met me once, and then we continued working together after Mary and Dave passed. I'm sorry for your loss, by the way."

Kyle acknowledged her while watching Sergeant Parker and Constable Wordsworth try and question Johnson and Krakes. The two men were tight-lipped, however, and refusing to say anything.

Sarge and Wheels were standing by Ninja, not saying anything, though Sarge was texting someone on his phone. A quick glance told Ninja that their tech was on the other end, and he hoped that his friend had found where Snips and Sam were.

"Look, if you don't want to talk to us, I can always let Ninja here try and speak with you," Parker finally said.

Ninja looked up, and a feral gleam came to his eyes. Johnson was the weak link, he decided as he saw the man flinch minutely under his glare. Krakes, however, remained still. "That threat means nothing to us. We know you won't allow him to kill us."

"Perhaps not," Ninja responded, and the two older constables said nothing. "But then again, there are fates worse than death, no?" He stalked up to the imposters, every ounce of him screaming danger, and halted a few feet away from them. "And if you ever come near my family again, I will make it my life mission to introduce you to all of them until you are begging for death."

Krakes narrowed his eyes. "Is that a threat, boy?"

"No," Kyle shook his head. "It's a promise."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Wait, play this by me again," Sarge instructed, incredulous.

Whiz took a deep breath. "We narrowed the other location down to somewhere in Hawaii. But when Sergeant Parker and Commander Holleran found out, they knew they had no authority. So they were talking with the officers in Hawaii, but apparently they don't want to take the word of a teenager on this. They're refusing to acknowledge this as anything, because there's not much to go on. So basically, they're refusing to mount a rescue mission."

"Wait a minute," Red said. "These people kidnapped Snips and Sam, and flew them to Hawaii?"

"Well, she did disappear for a few days at the beginning, remember?" Wheels prompted. "We were all nervous because she had disappeared, but then she came back."

"Well, if they're not going to do anything, surely we can?"

But Sarge was shaking his head. "It's out of our jurisdiction," he reminded them. "The SRU can't do anything if the officers of Hawaii refuse to work with them."

"Well if they can't, then we can," Sharp said.

"What exactly do you plan to do?" Ninja asked. The teens were all sitting around his living room, a common place for them to meet since there was no one else around. He continued on, eyes drifting to land on each of his teammates and friends. "Just hop on a plane and charge in?"

He could tell that they wanted to reply 'if that's what it takes' but his tone was preventing them from saying that. "We need a plan."

"How can we get there?" Sarge prompted. "That's the question we need to ask ourselves first. We can't exactly just buy tickets on a plane, like Ninja just pointed out. First of all, I have a feeling we shouldn't exactly let our parents know we're going to do this."

"Probably cause they wouldn't _let_ us do this," Sharp muttered. Then he said louder, "So how do we plan on getting there, then?"

"I know a guy."

Every head swiveled to Ninja at that moment, and there was just silence. Then Wheels spoke. "You know, when they say that on TV, it sounds cool. With you, it just sounds downright scary."

Ninja shrugged. "Either way, I do know a guy. And he owes me a favor. He could get us there."

"How?"

"He owns a helicopter. Should fit all of us."

Wheels was staring at him oddly. "Do we want to know why he owes you a favor?"

Ninja shrugged again. "Probably not. Suffice to say, he owes me and Snips. He'll pull through."

"How soon can he get here?"

Ninja regarded Sarge thoughtfully for a moment. "Well, he could probably hook us up tomorrow," he said slowly. "Thing is, I'm not sure that would be a good idea."

Sarge and everyone else stared incredulously at him. "Ninja, this is Snips and Sam we're talking about. We need to get them out as soon as we possibly can."

Ninja nodded. "Yes, I agree. However, as you pointed out, this is Snips and Sam. We can't go in half-cocked. We'll get all of us killed. We need to plan, prepare, get this done right. We go in there unprepared, and even if we get out, we'll be in major trouble with the local law enforcement. We might even be in trouble with them if we go in prepared. Bottom line, though, is that we need to prepare."

"Well, we can't go right away anyway," Red pointed out. "Everyone knows that we're upset, and they'll be expecting us to run off at the first opportunity. We can't let anyone think that something suspicious is going on. So the question is, when can we go without alerting everyone to the fact? If Team One finds out about it, they'll be in trouble. We have to give them plausible deniability. So when can we go that gives them that?"

No one noticed the look passing between Whiz and Sharp until Sharp spoke. "Two weeks. We can go in two weeks. No one will ever suspect anything."

Sarge stared at him. "You're not seriously suggesting—"

But Whiz was already nodding. "Graduation day. We've already been planning to have all of us spend the night here before, and then we would all head over. No one would be any the wiser."

"But guys, graduation…" Wheels trailed off.

"Is just a day where we shake a bunch of hands and get a piece of paper," Sharp said firmly, and Whiz nodded his agreement. "It's the perfect day for it."

"Are you sure?" Ninja asked softly. "Like, 100% sure? I know your parents won't be too pleased."

But the teens were shrugging. Whiz spoke. "We decided when we joined this team and stayed with it that our loyalties lied with it. We connect, respect, protect. We do it whether we're wearing the vests or not. We do it whether we're adults or not. It's who we are, it's what we've trained for."

Sharp was nodding. "My friends are in trouble," he picked up. "I hope that my parents will be proud enough of the person I'm becoming when they realize that I mean to do what no one else can or will. I'm going to help with rescuing them."

There was nothing else to be said after that, so no one spoke. Sarge nodded at Ninja. "Will two weeks give your guy enough time to get ready?" Ninja nodded. "Then let him know. We need to get prepared. We need to be able to sneak out our vests, and some equipment as well. If we're going in, I don't want it to be without any protection. We need to keep all of our options open. Wheels, you and I are going to have to do most of that part," he said, looking at his oldest friend who nodded once. "Whiz, see if you can get at least an image of this place we're going in. Google map it if you have to. We need to spend some more time on the range and on the mat. We need to be the best we can."

"We can't do it at the SRU," Red cautioned. "They'll be suspicious. Maybe not the shooting part, but hand-to-hand. We can probably get away with what we've been working on, but if we try and advance, they're going to act suspicious. We'll have to practice somewhere else."

"Here," Ninja said immediately. "We already spend a lot of time here as it is."

Sarge nodded at his team. "Then it's settled," he spoke for them. "We leave in two weeks. Let's get to work."

**I hope you all liked it! Next chapter, I think, they'll be heading off to find their missing SRU buddies. Please review! Review and tell me what you think will happen! Review and tell me what you want to happen! Review and tell me if you hate the story! (Though if you do, tell me what I can do better) Bottom line, please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Flashpoint at all. I hope you enjoy!**

"Ready?" Sarge asked softly. He got positive affirmations from the rest of his team. Turning to look at Wheels, his temporary team leader, he nodded. "3…2…1…move in, Team Five. Go."

He and Wheels went in, back to back, shooting at the targets that came up against them, watching each other's backs. He didn't have to ask to know that Red and Ninja were doing the same, as well as Whiz and Sharp. They had all taken different entrances as they raced towards their goal, taking down whatever came up in their path. Finally, they made it to their objective, looking at the stuffed bear sitting on the chair. Wheels raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

Ninja noticed the expression as he took off the safety goggles. "What?"

"Nothing," Wheels replied, copying the younger boy's movements. "I just didn't figure you guys for stuffed bears, that's all."

Ninja rolled his eyes. "Oh, really? And what did you figure us for?"

Wheels grinned wickedly. "Real ones," he shot back.

Ninja stared at him before allowing a tiny smirk to appear, and Wheels grinned even wider. _Point to me_. "Shall we look at the results?" he asked, and everyone nodded, lowering their paintball guns.

"I still can't believe we've never seen this part of your house," Red breathed to Ninja, who just shrugged.

"Mary and Dave wanted somewhere they could keep up with their awesome CIA skills, and so asked to have this installed before we moved here. This way, no questions would be raised if people ever saw them at the gun range. They could just practice in here."

"Doesn't it get loud?" Whiz questioned.

But Ninja was shaking his head. "Sound proof," he answered. "They normally liked to practice when we were sleeping or away, because they like being around us when we were there and awake. So it's soundproof. And," he answered the next question before it could be asked, "they had monitors placed so they could see what was going on downstairs in case people were coming that were…unfriendly."

Team Five had nothing to say to that, so they just looked around the room. They had originally thought that the attic was used to store…whatever, but it was far from true. The space was actually pretty open, with targets and space to shoot from, like an actual gun range. Ninja had asked his teammates to help him set up the room so that there were targets in different places, hidden until you came around the corner from all the barricades he had placed around the room. It kind of reminded them of the gun course that the SRU had.

They eventually located all the targets and checked them. Many were splattered with paint, though not always in the center. But that was okay, because most of the targets were colorful while everything else was it's proper white. A far cry from when they first tried this exercise.

A week had passed since their decision to rescue Snips and Sam without the approval of the rest of the SRU, and they had been practicing as often as they could get together. It was quite simple to get together, since they were basically around each other all the time anyway, and it didn't raise many suspicions.

They varied with their exercises, sometimes this one, sometimes hand-to-hand with varying groups. Sometimes it would be one-on-one, sometimes three to one or more. Each person varied as the attacker or defender. Sometimes they would practice the art of camouflage, blending in to the background, staying still and pretty much invisible as others on the team tried to track them. Sometimes they would work on negotiations, with Sarge leading and pointing out tips. Living with one of the best negotiators in the world really helped.

The result was an even more tightly knit group than before, almost to the point that they could read each others' minds, and they knew that it would be even better when Snips was back with them.

But for now, they just focused on getting her back.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"You stupid little—"

Sam didn't let him have the chance of finishing the sentence before he rammed a hand forward and up, crushing Mr. Happy straight in the nose, feeling the bone break under impact. _That's gotta hurt._

He turned and easily blocked the blow that was coming towards his unprotected back, ducking and shifting his weight to his left foot to turn mid-duck. His right foot lashed out at the back of the unsuspecting knee, wincing as it made impact, but bringing himself to land, balanced on the front of his feet, ready and waiting. He glanced back at Snips, once, before having to duck as another fist was swung towards his head. He let himself delve further into his head, to the point where it was almost like he was watching from outside of his body as he ducked and weaved, turned and attacked. His training from JTF2 was coming back in full force. Once a soldier, always a soldier.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Sarge, can I talk to you?"

Sergeant Parker looked up from his stack of papers and at the concerned face of his second negotiator. "What is it, Jules?"

She took a seat next to him. "I think the kids are planning something," she said abruptly.

Parker now looked straight at her. "What do you mean?"

Jules shrugged as she tried to put her suspicions into words. "Red's been acting strange," she began slowly. "We used to be able to talk about pretty much everything, but she's become drawn, like she's keeping something from me."

"She could just be missing Sam," Parker pointed out mildly.

Jules nodded in semi-agreement. "And I think that's part of it. But add it to the fact that Team Five has been spending more and more time together, and less time here, I just can't help but think that they're planning something."

"Well, we did tell them to take some time off from here and focus more on school and exams coming up."

"I know, Boss, but…call it a gut feeling. They're planning something."

"All right Jules," Parker finally said. "I'll keep an eye on them."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

The four boys froze at the minute scratching coming from the window. Not even a second later, before they could even think of moving, it slid quietly open to reveal someone they knew well, dressed in movie-ready black, missing only a hat to cover up his brown hair.

"Kyle?" Nick asked quietly, knowing instinctively that the older boy didn't want the Wordsworths coming upstairs and finding him here, especially since he had been over earlier already. "What's going on?"

Kyle took a breath. "Team Five is going on a trip for a bit."

"Team One doesn't know, do they?" Ben asked.

Kyle shook his head. "No. No one in the SRU does."

"You found Lucia? And Sam?" John asked hopefully. Justin perked up at this.

Their brother only shrugged, face cautious. "We might've," he replied. "It's a long shot, but it's the only shot we have."

The four younger boys nodded, deciding not to ask where. It they did and didn't like the answer, they would be spending the next however many days worrying about not only Lucia, but Kyle as well. It had happened before, and the worry just wasn't worth it. Both their older siblings had come home safe before, and they would come home safe again.

Besides, this time it wasn't just Kyle looking for Lucia. This time, he had the whole Team Five to watch his back.

"Be careful, Kyle, okay?" Justin finally spoke. "Promise?"

Kyle smiled softly and reached over to wrap his little brother in a hug. "I promise, buddy. I'll be extra careful, and I'll have Sarge and Wheels and Red and Whiz and Sharp to watch my back. We'll all be careful."

"Good," Justin said with all the seriousness of a nine-year-old. "They won't let you do something stupid."

Kyle and the triplets stared at him for a moment before they began to laugh, keeping it quiet. Ben finally stopped and reached over to clasp Kyle's arm, his affection running through the gesture. "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning, really early. Probably so early it could count as tonight," he muttered the last part. "We want to get a good night's sleep before we head out. I'll try and keep you guys updated, but it might get hard. I just wanted you guys to know I'm not disappearing on you. I'm coming back, and I'm bring Lucia home with me."

After he said goodbye to each of his brothers, Kyle slipped out the window with a determined expression on his face. He _would_ bring back Lucia.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Mom, dad, I'm heading over to Kyle's," Whiz said as he walked towards his parents, giving his mom a hug.

"All right. Be careful on the way over, Sean, okay? We'll see you tomorrow," his mother replied as she returned the hug.

Whiz felt more than a little guilt about not telling his parents what was going on, but he knew that they would try and stop him, and he _had_ to do this. "Well, we all planned to go to the graduation together tomorrow, so it wouldn't be till after that." There. That wasn't technically a lie, seeing as how they had planned to go to graduation together before Snips got taken. And it would be after graduation he would see his parents. So not a lie at all.

On impulse, he hugged his father as well, even though they rarely hugged. His dad wasn't huge on touchy-feely things, but he had to. His father merely smiled and held his son close, probably assuming he was excited because he was about to graduate. Great.

With one more backwards look, he headed out the door.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"See you dad," Sarge said as Wheels followed, echoing the same to his dad.

"Hang on, son," Sergeant Parker called to the two boys leaving the house. He waited until they turned to look at him. "Is there something going on?"

Sarge and Wheels exchanged confused looks, something they had been practicing because they knew somehow that this moment would come. The moment they would see if they had what it took to fool their fathers. They each admitted in their own minds that the other boy's slightly bewildered look was perfect. "Going on?" Sarge echoed. "Well, we are going to Ninja's house…"

"We meant other than that," Ed interrupted. "You guys have just been quiet lately, and gone a lot. We just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

By this time his wife had joined them at the doorway, wondering why they were gone so long, and raised an eyebrow. Wheels raised one in turn and shrugged. "Well, you did tell us that we shouldn't be around the SRU right now and focusing more on school."

"And you've been focusing on school?"

Wheels resisted the urge to scowl. "Yeah, actually," Sarge interrupted. "We always have study groups when we get together." He turned to his dad. "Nothing's going on, dad, I promise. We just have been planning this for a long time, and with Snips…with her not here right now, I don't think Kyle can take being at home by himself right now." He had intentionally used Ninja's real name, hoping to evoke sympathy from the older man. And it must've worked, because his dad looked at Ed and shrugged, sending a soft smile to the two boys. "Tell him hi from us, okay?"

The two teens nodded and left, not quickly per se, but quickly enough that their parents wouldn't change their minds.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Jules, I'm heading over to Kyle's," Red said as she walked into the spare bedroom where her guardian was covered in more paint than the walls.

Jules flashed a smile at her, but Red knew that Jules knew there was something going on. "All right," Jules said, standing up easily. "So you're spending the night, right?"

Red nodded. "Yeah, and then we were all going to head over to the school together." _Not a lie, _she told herself. That was what they had planned to do before Snips had been taken.

"Dani," Jules began seriously, "is there something going on? You know you can talk to me."

"What do you mean?"

Jules reached out and toyed with a bit of the younger girl's hair. "You've just been acting kind of strange lately, that's all. What's going on?"

And Red knew she was in trouble. Jules was starting out soft, but she had watched her begin like this with subjects before twisting everything so they were spilling their guts to her and surrendering. She had to get out of here fast. So she tried a new tactic, one that wasn't completely a lie.

She cast her eyes to the side and chewed on her bottom lip, a nervous habit she had never been able to break when she wanted to keep something private. She was glad of it now, as she knew Jules knew about it. "I guess…I don't know."

"What?" Jules quietly encouraged.

"It's just…I've been getting some bad dreams," Red confessed quietly, really meaning it. "I hadn't wanted to say anything to you, because I know you're already worried about Sam, and I didn't want you to worry about me too because I didn't want to be a bother, but they're really scary and he's always hurt and I always wake up and—and it's horrible!" Some tears had come to her eyes as she said it, and she knew now that if she wanted to get someone off her case, it was better to have a secret she was willing to share to make them forget about the other one.

"Ah, sweetheart," Jules said, pulling her close. Red relaxed in her arms, taking in the hug for all it was worth. "You would never be a bother to me, you know that, right? I always want to know how you're doing or what's going on, even if it's scary."

"I'm sorry," Red whispered. "I just didn't want you to worry about me too."

"Don't worry about that," Jules grinned. Then she looked serious. "If you have another dream tonight, I want you to call me, okay? I don't care what time it is, I want to know and I want to help you. So promise me, okay?"

Red nodded solemnly. "I promise," she swore.

"Good. Get out of here, all right? I'll see you tomorrow."

Red walked out the door, looking back to smile once more at Jules before heading to her boyfriend's house. _That was too close._

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"I'm heading to Kyle's," Sharp called over his shoulder as he headed towards the door. He wasn't up for another argument, not today.

"Ryan, honey wait."

Ryan bit back a sigh and turned to face his mother. She held out his cap and gown to him, and he took them, smiling sheepishly. He had forgotten about those. "Thanks, mom, that wouldn't have been fun to forget."

She kissed his cheeks as his father came to say goodbye as well. "Ryan," his father started, then stopped again.

Sharp looked at him quizzically. That wasn't the tone he was used to hearing, the one right before they had an argument. This one was different, softer and more…apologetic? "Dad?" he asked softly, wanting to know.

"I just…I'm proud of you, son," his father said.

Sharp looked at him, astounded. _Not now not now not now—_"What?"

"We found out about your scholarship, the one you've been trying to tell us about, and…we should've listened to you. Ry, you've gone from someone who hated school and hated people to someone who gets straight A's most of the time, the other times B's, and you found a new group of friends. You've become strong and confident, _happier_, and sure of yourself. You no longer are, well, arrogant, either. But you know what you're capable of and you fit in well with your friends. So I just…I just wanted to say how proud of you I am. And know that I'm glad you wouldn't let us take you out of this program. It's become a part of you that I don't think you could ever let go of even if you tried. I am _so_ proud of you, and I know that I'll be proud of whatever path you choose to follow."

Sharp stood there, mouth gaping at his dad, who seemed embarrassed but happy at the same time. "I…thanks, dad," he finally said.

His father gave him a hug before turning to head back to the dining room table where he had set up the bills. His mom gave him the same and a quiet smile before he left.

He thought about what they said, and he was happy, but also, he couldn't help but think: _They had to pick today._

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

When Ninja got back and looked at the rest of his team, he raised an eyebrow. "I guess I'm not the only one who's feeling guilty about not telling Team One about our little adventure."

Mute heads shook all around him before Wheels finally took charge. "We should probably get to sleep as quickly as possible," he pointed out. "Does everyone have everything?"

Everyone looked around them to double check that they had their armor, cool pants, and highly advanced paintball guns before nodding. "Good. Let's get some sleep, then. We have to get up nice and early."

"I'm pretty sure waking up at 1 in the morning constitutes towards night," Whiz pointed out. "So…we'll be getting up nice and _late_."

"Well, when you put it that way," Sharp muttered, "I feel so much better."

"Anyway," Sarge overruled, "get to bed. We've got a busy day tomorrow. Tomorrow, we're bring home two of our own. And we need to be as ready and able as we possibly can."

**Please please ****_please_**** REVIEW!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello, faithful readers!**

**I know some of you are wondering why it took so long to update the last chapter. All I can say is writer's block, and lack of time with the amount of work I was raking in. But don't worry, school is back and with it comes my plenty of procrastination in the form of writing. Hope you enjoy!**

Sergeant Greg Parker didn't know what woke him up, but as he cast his eyes towards the clock by his bed, he knew it couldn't be good. 2:38 am flashed back at him, bright red against the darkness of his room. He lay still for a moment, trying to see if he could figure it out.

He got up slowly and grabbed his weapon from inside his nightstand, and began to search his house. As he finished checking each room, he gave an inaudible sigh. The house was empty except for him, but he knew there was still something wrong. He just couldn't put his finger on it. An idea was slowly forming in his mind, but he prayed he was wrong.

He was just about to grab his cell phone when it started ringing. His gut tightened as he looked at the caller id. "What is it, Eddie?"

"Something's got you up too, huh, Boss?" came back at him.

Parker sighed. "Just a bad feeling," he admitted. "What's up?"

There was a hesitation before his TL finally spoke again. "To be honest, the same thing. Something feels off, but I can't figure out what. But my gut was telling me to call you."

Parker rubbed the back of his head. "So that's two of us. The question is, what's going on?"

Understanding dawned in both men at the same instant, and they knew it. "Eddie?"

"I'll meet you there."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Jules? What are you doing here?"

Jules paused on her walk up the driveway to look back. "I could ask the same of you, Boss."

"You got a bad feeling too, huh?"

Jules shrugged. "In so many words." She gestured towards the dark house. "All the cars are here and the lights are off, which makes sense, but something doesn't feel right."

"You were telling me you thought they were up to something," Parker reminded her. "Maybe this is the something."

They broke off as another car pulled up. Ed got out and came over to his two teammates, nodding briefly in greeting at Jules, who he seemed completely unsurprised to see. "Are they in there?"

Jules shrugged. "They should be, but something tells me they aren't."

Without another word, the three officers walked up to the front door. Ed reached out and brought his hand down heavily on it three times and waited. When there was no answer, he did it again, ringing the doorbell for good measure.

Still no answer.

Jules pulled out her cell phone, pressing something before putting it to her ear. She waited a minute then shook her head. "No answer," she reported.

Ed grimaced. "Something tells me they're not sleeping." He shook his head and pulled out a key ring, selecting one and using it to open the door as he answered the unspoken question. "Snips gave one to us, and one to Wordy. Wanted us to be able to come over if something was wrong."

The three of them walked in the door, calling out as they entered. There wasn't a response. Jules headed down as Ed headed up, with Parker searching the main floor. Ed came down the stairs, shaking his head at his Boss. Before either man could speak, Jules called out for them.

When they got downstairs, they could see all the sleeping bags and blankets sprawled across the floor. Jules wasn't immediately visible, but they followed her voice back to what they assumed could only be Snips' room. Jules looked up from where she was leaning over the desk in the corner. The two leaders immediately saw the problem.

All of the cell phones that belonged to the teens were on the bed, along with a note that said, _"She's one of ours. So is Sam. We understand that you can't do anything, but that doesn't mean we can't. We're getting them back."_

"They're going after Snips," Jules said. "And Sam. The question is, how exactly are they planning to get there?"

Parker was shaking his head. "All of the cars are out there, and I don't think they would drive all the way to Hawaii anyway. Besides, if it's on one of the islands, they're going to need a plane. We need to alert all the airports to be on the lookout for them. We can't let them do this."

"I don't think they're going to the airport, Boss," Ed said grimly. "They found another way." The TL had been going through the teen's phones, starting with Clark's and moving next to Kyle's. It was in Kyle's messages that he had found the answer. "Most of the messages are deleted, but it seems either this one was forgotten or came after they left. Listen to this: 'It's fueled and ready to go. Just waiting on you.' It's an unknown number."

"Any location?" Greg asked, already pulling out his own phone, but Ed was shaking his head. "Troy, it's Greg Parker. I need you to find me the location of any private airstrips, or find something about an unregistered plane or jet or helicopter, _something_. Team Five is going after Snips and Sam, and we need to find them _now_."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Team Five minus Snips jogged the rest of the way towards the awaiting aircraft. Wheels pulled up short. "What is _that?_" he asked, voicing the awe he was pretty sure was in everyone else's mind.

Ninja never stopped jogging, answering his teammates over his shoulder. "V-22 Osprey. It should be able to fit all of us. Hurry up."

They hurried to catch up to their youngest teammate, only stopping when a man appeared out of the jet-plane. Ninja was grinning as he held out his hand. "Nice to see you again, Fingers."

'Fingers' scowled for a moment before his lips twitched and he couldn't help but smile. "I feel like there should be a time limit on return favors, kid."

Ninja shrugged, gesturing towards the plane. "You know I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. Please, Fingers, we need your help."

But Fingers was shaking his head. "Relax, kid. I wouldn't have flown here if I weren't going to help you out. Besides, you and Lucia saved my life. I owe you."

Ninja beamed at the older man as he led his teammates onto the jet-plane. As they settled into their seats, Sharp couldn't resist looking around. "I feel like I'm a soldier going into the battle zone," he commented. The rest agreed.

"Buckle up, kiddies, we're taking off," Fingers said over the comm. A moment later, the teens could feel the aircraft begin to move, and they all checked each other over to make sure, in fact, that they were all strapped in. Fingers began speaking again. "Please keep your hands and feet inside the aircraft at all times. If you do not, I cannot and will not be responsible for any deaths. Thank you and enjoy your flight."

Ninja rolled his eyes as he felt his teammates look at him. "So…" he began, trailing off in an invitation for questions.

"How did you and Snips save his life?" Red asked immediately.

Ninja shrugged. "He exaggerated," he began. "We didn't really save his life. We just saved him from trying to explain to his boss why thousands of dollars were disappearing each month from their account. Turns out one of his lackey's loyalty was a little divided. He was siphoning off money to a competitor, and framing Fingers for it. We decided to help out."

"I'm guessing their money wasn't exactly…legal?" Sarge raised an eyebrow, but again, Ninja shrugged.

"The money being stolen was being sent to a slave-trading ring that had their eyes set on our neighborhood. We picked the lesser of two evils."

"Why's he called Fingers?" Whiz asked.

Ninja grinned. "'Cause he's a thief. Great pickpocket, but his real skills are draining accounts over the web. Magic fingers."

"How long before we get there?"

"Around ten hours," Sarge replied. "So get some sleep. We'll go over tactics and everything else a couple of hours before we land. But right now, it's night, I'm tired, and there's nothing to do now but worry. So sleep. We've got a long day ahead of us."

**Please review! Tell me what you like. Tell me what you hate. Tell me what you want to see happen next chapter. Just talk to me, REVIEW! I LOVE REVIEWS!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A somewhat short chapter, sorry. But I wanted to get this laid down so I can get the main action out later. I hope you enjoy!**

"Why were we not notified immediately?"

"Is there any way to contact them? Our calls keep going to voicemail."

"What are you planning to do to get them back?"

Ed Lane was looking over at the parents with a raised eyebrow, part of him wishing that they had never contacted the parents. Part of him knew, however, that it had been the right thing, the _only_ thing to do. These were just kids, and their parents needed to know what was going on.

The fact was, an unregistered aircraft had taken off last night, and there had been no way to stop it, and no way to even know if it had the teens on it, though all common sense was screaming yes. At 7 a.m. this morning, every parent/guardian of Team Five had been asked to come down to the station. Which, considering the fact that Sarge and Wheels had fathers in the SRU, Red's guardian was Jules, and Wordy was currently looking after Ninja and Snips (kind of), it left Whiz and Sharp. And worried spouse members. So, the Lorskins and the Peters', Sophie and Shelley had all come down.

He watched as Greg finished speaking with Commander Holleran and walked over to the group of concerned parents/family members. "If everyone would just settle down," he began.

Immediately, the hubbub died out. They were all anxious to hear any type of news concerning their kids. Ed had to hand it to the boss. He looked calm and confident, even though Ed knew his friend was deeply concerned for his son and everyone else on the young team. He knew because he felt the same way.

"I know that you're worried, we are too. But there is something you need to realize: these teens aren't your typical kids." He looked at the non-SRU parents especially. "I know that you weren't here for their training, but I know you came to their graduation ceremony, when they got their vests and pins." Heads nodded, even from the SRU parents. "We did not give those out lightly. Team Five went above and beyond what we had planned for them, and they were brilliant.

"When Snips was taken, we were unable to track her exact location. As such, we haven't been able to locate her and get her back. One of our cadets, Whiz," he nodded to the Lorskins, "was somehow able to pinpoint the location to somewhere in Hawaii."

"So why not notify the police there?" Mrs. Peters called out.

"We did, but they didn't believe us. They had not heard about any fight club in their state, and we checked with many local chapters. But no one had heard about it, and as such, no one had any reason to believe there was an issue when they had many other things to do. We've continually been contacting the officials, asking if we could come over and conduct our own search, but have been turned down repeatedly. We were in the middle of getting in contact with the governor when the rest of Team Five decided to take things into their own hands.

"They left sometime in the middle of the night last night, but left all of their phones here. It seems they did not want us to be able to call them and talk them out of this." He let out a brief smile. "I've been told we're pretty good at that." Parker received a few chuckles in response before they grew sober again. "We're trying to figure out exactly where they're planning on going so that we can notify the local law enforcement, but so far we haven't had much luck. We'll let you know when we have more information, but know this." He took a deep breath and looked at all the parents, even Ed, Jules, and Wordy. "Those kids are good. They've grown close in this past year, and I know without a doubt that they have each other's backs. As long as they stick together, I am highly confidant that they will come back to us, with Sam and Snips alongside them. Thank you."

As he stepped down, the couples turned to each other, and sometimes to the other parents within the SRU. When he got a moment, Greg nodded to Ed, who immediately got the hint. They walked off a bit, apart from the other parents.

"You're worried."

Ed shook his head. "I don't even need to say it, Boss. I understand why they felt they had to go, but they should have come to us. They should not have gone off by themselves. They should have listened to us and trusted us when we said we were doing everything in our power to get Snips and Sam back."

Greg was silent for a few minutes until he placed a hand on his old friend's shoulder and sighed. "Sometimes Dean drives me crazy; won't listen to a word I say. Sometimes he makes me so proud my heart just bursts. Thing is, more and more they happen at the same time. Clark's a great kid. Got a lot of you in there." (Flashpoint episode _Lawmen_)

Ed half-smirked sadly. "It's the me in him that I'm worried about."

"They'll come back, Eddie. And they'll come back stronger and more capable than ever before."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"You wanted to see me, Ma'am?"

"Yes, Jason." She twirled the liquid in her cup. "About the girl."

Jason said nothing, just remained silent, waiting for her to speak.

"Her fights lately have been…less than what I've wanted."

"She wins most of them, and the ones she doesn't are usually either because her opponent was very good or she was injured. She's still injured."

"Oh, I am well aware of this. But I do believe that her time here is coming to an end."

At this, Jason's heart leapt. Whether from fear or happiness, he did not know. It was probably both, if he were honest with himself. Because that statement could mean one of two things. "…Ma'am?"

"I think we'll have one more fight with our dear Lucia," his employer said, staring off. "Just something to end it with a bang, I suppose. If she does well in it, I think that her reward should be going home. Of course, we do owe her some payment for her past fights."

Jason didn't say anything on the last remark, knowing that the only thing the kid wanted was not money, but a chance to go home.

"We'll have her last fight tomorrow. Get her ready for it."

Jason nodded once before exiting the room. He couldn't wait to let the kid know.

His employer stared at the closed door for some time, deep in thought. After a few minutes, she pressed a button on the device she constantly carried around and waited. She didn't have to wait long.

"You wanted to see me, ma'am?"

"Yes, Patrick. I want you to gather some volunteers. One of our fighters has declared herself the best in this entire place, and she says she's willing to do anything to prove it. I want you to gather the best fighters we have, so that they can all face her at once. It should prove to be the most interesting and amusing fight, I assure you." She waited until he left to do as she ordered. "After all, fights to the death are always entertaining."

**So…who thinks they know what's going to happen? What do you want to happen? Should Snips survive? What about Sam…or even Jason? Let me know! Let me know what you want to happen, and I will try to make it work out! Please review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Greetings, faithful readers! And thank you to all who reviewed. I hope you enjoy where I take this story, but for now, please…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Flashpoint**

"Boss, you need to see this."

For a moment before the tone registered, Parker was tempted to tell Spike to hold on. Then he heard the pure and terrifying fear coming through their tech and he hurried over. "What's going on, Spike?"

Spike just mutely pointed to the computer screen. Parker recognized it as the website that was responsible for all the misery for the past almost three months. Spike seemed to have found his voice as he explained, "I figured that if we were going to get any news on Team Five, it would be if they showed up on here."

"I don't get it," Parker admitted. "What's going on, Spike?"

"Boss, look at all the fighters in the ring."

Parker did as he was told, looking at the admittedly large number of people. "Okay?"

"Now look who's fighting next."

When Parker finally found the name, he paled. "Spike, you don't mean—"

"They're going to make her fight all of them." He looked at the rest of Team One, who had gathered around. "There's no way she can win against all of them. She's hurt, she looked like she hadn't slept in weeks the last time we saw her fight. She can't fight—it would kill her."

"I think that's their plan," Jules whispered. "They're getting rid of her."

Parker pulled away, fishing his cell phone out of his pocket. They all stared at him as he began yelling after a few minutes. "I don't care if I don't have a scheduled appointment with him right now. Get the damn governor on the phone now! A girl's life is at risk!"

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"I don't know if I can do this."

The five teens stopped and looked back at their leader. "What do you mean?" Ninja asked. "Sarge, we've got to do this. Snips and Sam are depending on us."

"I don't mean going in. I mean negotiating." He looked at Ninja. "Kyle, this is your sister. They took her from us, hurt her, did who knows what to her! Why should we even try reasoning with them? It's clear that they're crazy. I say we go in, wreak some havoc, and get them out."

Ninja wavered, but it was Red who spoke. "Grow up," she said tartly. They all looked at her. "Yes, they took Snips and Sam, yes they hurt her, but we aren't going to go in guns blazing. That's not what we were taught. We can't let the fact that these two are our teammates affect our judgment. We swore an oath to connect, respect, and protect. And that includes negotiating with people who we would rather see locked inside a padded cell. You're wearing the cool pants, so start acting like it." She took a step towards Sarge. "If you feel like you can't negotiate right now, no one's going to think any less of you. We get it. But you need to say something now."

Sarge looked at Red, and knew what he had to do. "I can help guide you," he offered quietly. "But I'm too compromised right now. I could try to negotiate, but I can't promise that I won't get angry. I think the best move would be for you to step in. I can offer help."

Red debated for a moment before she nodded. Sarge looked to his second. "Wheels?"

"All right, let's rearrange this a bit. Red and Sarge are both going to find Snips, since she's most likely in the fighting ring. Sharp, I want you to find a vantage point and watch their backs." He got a nod of affirmation. "Ninja, Whiz and I will see if we can find Sam. Everyone stay in contact."

"All right, Team Five," Sarge took over. "Hot call. Let's move out."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"This is really the last fight?" Snips whispered.

Jason had to fight to keep his grin in check. "Yeah kid," he said. "So come on. One more fight, then you can go home."

Snips looked over at Sam, who was watching in his half-awake, half-drugged state. "And they're not going to make him stay, right?"

"Not to my knowledge, no." The distrustful glare that was directed at him was well deserved for that statement. "I'll make sure he goes with you, kid." He threw her fight clothes at her. "Now get changed, you're going to be late. And the sooner you get this fight over with, the sooner you can go home."

He stepped outside of the room to give her some privacy. She quickly changed in the bathroom before stepping over to check on Sam. "Are you awake?"

"Don—don't trust him, Snips."

She sat down next to him as he fought to move. "What do you mean?"

"Sum—some-thing not right," he slurred. "Watch'er back."

Snips wanted to cry at that statement. She just wanted to believe Jason that this was all about to be over. But now Sam was saying that she couldn't trust him, and he was barely even awake thanks to that stupid drug, and why did her life have to be this hard? She just wanted to go home. She wanted to go home and sleep and never come back out again. She was so _tired_.

"Fight."

She raised her head sharply. Sam was looking at her, understanding shining in his eyes. "Fight, Snips. Fight, and win. Lez go home."

Okay, direct orders she could do. She nodded, leaning over to give him a hug, and drain him of all the emotional support she so desperately needed. She felt like she was breaking, bit-by-bit, and he was the only thing holding her together. She felt him squeeze her lightly back, telling her that he was there and she would be fine, and she stood up to move to the door. It was time to end this.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Jason!"

Jason paused midway through telling the kid about her upcoming opponent to face the voice. "I'm busy."

"She wants to see you."

"I need to get the kid to her fight." He could feel her trembling slightly, and wanted nothing more than to stop talking, take her to her fight, and then get her out of here.

"I can take her. She says it's urgent."

Jason sighed and glanced at the kid, but she wasn't looking at him. She was staring straight ahead, no doubt thinking about home. He hoped she could keep her head here long enough to survive this fight. "Fine. Kid, you want to know anything more?" A silent shake was his only answer. He sighed but nonetheless began walking towards his boss' office. As he was passing the lackey, however, he shot out his arm. "Take her to the fight, but do not touch her. She's suffered enough here."

The man scoffed. "You're getting soft, Jason. Don't worry," he added as Jason opened his mouth, "I'll take the princess to her fight. Best not to keep her waiting."

Jason scowled but began to move away. He would hopefully only be a minute, and then be there to witness the kid's last fight.

Snips waited until this new man began leading her down the all-to-familiar route to the fight ring. She fell into step silently behind him, keeping her head down. All too soon, they reached the entrance, and she waited for him to unlock the door. "I hope you're really as good as you say, kid."

She looked at him questioningly, head cocked to the side.

He laughed. "You said you wanted to prove you were the best here? Well, here's your chance." And with that, he shoved her in.

She stumbled, still trying to figure out what he was talking about when she looked up. And felt her blood run cold.

Over ten men were there, at least, and they all were looking at her. _Watch your back_, Sam had said. And she knew.

She knew that they were intending this to be her last fight, but not in the way that she was hoping. They wanted to kill her, and this was how they were going to do it. Part of her wanted them to.

Then she steeled herself. Sam had said to fight; he had told her to win. He said they were going home, and she was going to do everything possible to fulfill his wish. He had protected her, taken beatings for her, how would she ever face him if she didn't even fight?

So she set her feet slightly apart, left in front of the right, so that she was at an angle to the men she knew were going to try and pulverize her.

She didn't even acknowledge the words being spoken, she knew she had only one chance at winning this thing: surprise.

In all of her fights, she had only made the first move once, and she knew these men wouldn't expect her to rush them. So that's exactly what she did.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"God no."

Team One watched, horrified, as even before the announcer finished speaking, Snips was running, but not away. She was running towards the men she was facing. Before they knew it, one man was reaching out to catch her, but she had dropped, propelling herself forward with all of the momentum she had built up, rolling underneath his legs, dropping him in the process.

She leapt up, and the all leaned forward with her, watching as she moved in a whirl, ducking and dodging every punch or kick thrown her way. It was like she dancing, twirling around, ducking and swerving as if he was listening to a song no one else was privy to. It would almost be beautiful; if they weren't all so terrified she was going to get hurt. And then it happened.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Lucia knew she was done for as she felt her collarbone crack. Someone had gotten in a lucky hit, and she screamed involuntarily, falling to the ground in pain. Still she felt them coming, and so she braced herself, told her to forget the pain, and rolled to her feet. She needed to regroup; she needed to get her breath back. So she ran towards the first man she saw, using him as a springing board to vault up in a backflip, landing a few feet away from the men.

She was almost on the ground, trying hard to catch her breath and keep an eye on her enemies at the same time. She saw them coming, but she didn't know if she had the strength to keep them at bay.

And then she heard the most precious sound she had ever heard.

**Well… I have nothing more to say than REVIEW. I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to them, so…REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**


	18. Chapter 18

**All right guys, I hope you enjoy this next chapter. Sorry I've been gone so long, but alas, college is here and that with work with homework with trying to have somewhat of a life is truly exhausting. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: don't own Flashpoint or any of it's characters**

"Any idea where we're going?"

"Not a clue," Ninja muttered back.

The three teens were moving through the building, staying in the shadows, hiding each time someone passed by. It was a miracle they hadn't been spotted yet. "We can't keep moving like this," Wheels finally said. "At this rate we're going to pass by them completely."

"Maybe the others are having better luck?" Whiz said, though it was more of a hopeful question.

Ninja shrugged, but Wheels held up his hand. They all moved immediately deeper into the shadows, pressing themselves against the wall and held their breath. It seemed a blessing had been stowed upon them.

"I didn't realize we had a vet here."

Ninja's breath caught in his throat. Unless these guys were talking about vets who played with cute and cuddly animals, there was only one person they could be talking about…he hoped. Otherwise, this would get very annoying, very fast.

"He doesn't fight." _So far, so good._

"Then why are we looking for him?"

The men were moving farther down the hallway, and the three teens followed, hoping beyond hope that they would not be spotted. They couldn't see the face of the one who was talking, but they could hear his tone. "Boss wants him to see this next fight, and then we're supposed to put him out of his misery."

_Wait, what?_

"Wait, hold on. She wants us to kill him? Why? What's he even doing here?"

"Look, we don't question orders. We just follow them. Let's go."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Jason knew something was wrong the moment he stepped foot in the hallway that lead to his boss' office. It was too quiet, too still. Even on big fight days, there was always a bustle, always moving bodies flooding the hallway. It was amazing, the amount of paperwork that was associated with running this place. He was glad he didn't have to deal with that.

But he was trained, and knew that something was not right. So when his instinct screamed at him to duck, he did not question it. He just hit the ground.

And was glad when he heard the bullet whizzing overhead.

He leapt up, swing his legs in an arc as he jammed his open-palmed hand up, knocking the balaclava-wearing man off balance as he grabbed the gun and twisted, still holding this unknown attacker's arm in his hand, and jammed his elbow back into the face. He could hear the bone snap.

The man dropped like a stone, gun being tucked securely into Jason's firm grip. He knew what this meant, and he knew what he had to do.

He hoped the kid could survive long enough in what he now knew was somehow an unfair fight: the Braddock man was in trouble.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Boss?"

Parker slammed his phone down onto the table. "I keep getting bounced around. No one's going to help. How's she doing?"

"You're not going to believe this."

Parker narrowed his eyes and walked over to the computer screen. What he saw, he couldn't tell if he was terrified or proud. What he did know was that he hoped this would work out, because there wasn't a single thing that he or anyone else in Team One or the whole SRU could do to help.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"What's it going to be, kiddies?"

Wheels didn't dare look at his teammates, knowing the movement would just show how insecure and out of depth he was right now. Instead he looked at Sam, silently apologizing for how he messed this up.

_"We're going to follow them, right?"_

_"That has to be Sam they're talking about," Whiz agreed._

_"Or it could be a completely different person who also happens to be a water veteran. But yeah," he held up a hand to stop his teammates, "we're going to follow them. We've got no way of knowing where to go, and this is our best shot. So let's go."_

_Unfortunately, the men they were following grew aware of their presence, though they didn't let the teens know that until they had reached their destination. _

_"How should we go in?" Whiz asked quietly._

_There wasn't really any way to scope this out. It was a single door, with no window at all. They couldn't look in, they couldn't have any way of knowing what was going on inside. "Well…we could use the element of surprise."_

_Wheels looked at Ninja, who looked slightly uncertain. They were all way out of their depths, and had no way of calling for back up, except for Sarge, Red, and Sharp. They had just spoken with those three a few minutes ago to let them know what was going on. The other half of their team believed they were close to finding Snips, and so could not come here to back them up._

_Finally, Wheels nodded. "Element of surprise it is," he said with more confidence than he felt. "Whiz, I want you to kick open the door, Ninja, back to back with me."_

_Both teens nodded and Whiz got into position as Wheels and Ninja double-checked to make sure that no one was coming down the hallway. Glancing down at his tech, Wheels held up his right hand and put up three fingers, then counted down with the typical three…two…one hand gesture. Whiz kicked open the door, holding out an arm to stop it from flinging back in their faces._

_They were expected. Shots rang out immediately, and the three teens ducked. They brought up their guns, but were stopped at the sight that stood before them._

"Well?"

Wheels looked straight into the eyes of the man that was holding a gun to Sam's head. "Why don't you lower the gun a little?" he began, prepared to try and negotiate. He tried to ignore the dripping blood that was coming from Ninja's arm as he focused on the task at hand.

"Why don't you make me?" the man sneered back. "Or are you afraid to get your hands dirty?" Wheels didn't respond, which made the man grow smugger. "Have you ever killed a person, kid? You might look all fancy in your little vests with your little guns there, but have you ever actually looked a person in the eyes and pulled the trigger, knowing that you were the reason they were no longer breathing?" He lowered his voice, staring Wheels right in the eye. "Can you honestly look at me and pull the trigger?"

Wheels didn't have to reply, because someone else did it for him. "I can."

Two quick shots rang out, causing the teens to duck and whirl around to face the new threat. A man stood there, gun straight ahead as he looked dispassionately at the now dead men in front of him. Ninja and Whiz raced over to Sam as Wheels looked at this new man. "Who are you?"

The man considered him for a moment. "Jason. I'm assuming you're here for the kid and her friend?"

Wheels was nodding slowly. "The rest of our team is looking for her right now."

"Well, let's hope they find her fast and can get her out even faster. We need to get him out right now."

A part of Wheels wanted to argue, wanted to say that they needed to find Snips first before they left, but the other part told him that what Jason was saying was true. Sam looked to be in really bad shape, Ninja had been shot and was holding his arm tightly with his free hand, and there was no way Whiz could get out Sam alone. They needed Jason's help, especially if they encountered anyone on the way out. So he bit back his protest and nodded instead, rushing over to where Whiz had Sam halfway on his feet, pulling one of the man's arms around his shoulders. Whiz gripped the other one and looked at Ninja, who merely nodded, face grim. "I can manage," he said. "Just a graze."

"I'll look at it once we get you guys away from here," Jason told him. "I can get us outside, but once we're out there, I have no way of getting us transportation without alerting everyone inside."

"Don't worry about that," Wheels assured him. "We've got that all taken care of."

"Then let's move."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"All right, I'll be back in a few minutes."

Wheels looked up from where he was standing over Sam, Whiz at his side. "What? Where are you going?"

Jason finished tying off the bandage he had wrapped around Ninja's arm. _Just a graze_, he had said. The bullet was a through-and-through, and Ninja looked on the verge of passing out from pain. What an idiot.

"You're friends aren't out here yet. The kid's in trouble, I'm going to help."

"You care about her."

Jason paused on his way back towards the building they had recently evacuated from. "We were wrong to bring her here. We were wrong to make her fight. I'm going to make up for that."

Wheels watched silently for a few moments as Jason continued on his path before turning to his friends. "Is Sam going to be okay?"

Whiz shrugged helplessly. "I'm no doctor, man. I barely know what I'm doing here, but it looks like he'll be fine, or so he's mumbling."

"Not mumbling," Sam slurred. "I'm fine."

Whiz snorted. "Yeah, and I'm the queen of England." He glanced at Wheels. "We need to get these two out of here. At least to the car."

"Ninj, can you—" Wheels broke off at Ninja's short nod. Though he didn't really believe him, the older teen had little choice but to nod and haul one of Sam's arms around his shoulders, Whiz supporting the man on the other side. Ninja followed closely behind, looking like he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep on the ground in front of them.

"You know," Whiz grunted as they slowly made their way to the car, "if I didn't hate this place so much, I would actually love it here."

It was beautiful here, Wheels had to agree. But like Whiz said, it was kind of hard not to hate this place right now. Maybe once they got back home, they could talk their parents into going to vacation somewhere around here, but far away from this stupid building.

That is, of course, if their parents didn't ground them for the rest of their lives. They'd probably be lucky to even leave the house again, let alone the country.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Sharp, find a sierra position," Sarge whispered. "I have a feeling we're going to need a Scorpio back-up." Sharp nodded before running off lightly, climbing up as high as he could. Sarge turned to Red. "You ready?" he asked.

She nodded but couldn't respond before Wheels broke in. "Guys, we've got Sam and we're heading out of the building. He's pretty bad but mostly awake."

"Good, see if you can keep him awake and lucid," Sarge ordered. "We might need him to help with the negotiation."

"Copy."

Sarge turned again to Red. "I'll be on the comm. the entire time," he assured her. "Trust yourself, and we'll all get out of here."

"And if they just kill us instead?"

Sarge huffed. "Save our parents the trouble, I guess."

Red looked at him strangely before rolling her eyes and smiling, ready to do this. She knew she had to keep her cool, but as they got to the entrance of the ring, her blood began to boil. Maybe putting her in charge of negotiation wasn't such a bright move after all. She opened her mouth.

**Guys, I don't think you understand how much I love reviews. I live off reviews. Every time I get an email, I hope it's reviews. And then it's not. Sad face. So, please please please please ****_please _****REVIEW!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Well, since you guys all asked so nicely in those wonderful, heartfelt reviews, I finished this quickly and put it up!**

**Disclaimers: Do we really have to go through this again? I don't own Flashpoint!**

"STOP!"

_No. There's no way._ Lucia didn't dare turn her head when she heard that voice. She didn't want to look and realize that it was a dream. Because there was absolutely no way that this was possible.

But that voice was insistent, carrying on past the dream-state that she usually heard during her stay here. "Stop right now! That is _enough_."

So she let herself hope as she dared to turn her eyes to the left, unable to move her head without flares of pain racking through her body, looking towards the entrance to this stupid ring. And there she was, along with Sarge. Red came barging in, fire-hair that matched her current fiery attitude in a ponytail, SRU vest on. Sarge was just a step behind her, and in that moment Lucia didn't even care that Ninja wasn't right there, because she knew without a doubt that he was here somewhere, because her team was here, and that meant one thing: she could finally go home. The question was, why on earth were they here alone?

Red didn't even acknowledge her team leader beyond the barest of glances to make sure that she was okay, instead opting to put herself in between Snips and the men that were threatening her. Snips didn't even care that it was Red, and not Sarge, negotiating, instead just letting herself fall into the waiting arms of her boss/boyfriend and pulling on what little strength she had left to not completely fall apart at the fact that rescue was here, and she and Sam could go _home_. She was almost able to ignore the pain radiating from her collarbone.

While Sarge held Snips and offered murmured words of comfort, Red began to talk. She wasn't holding anything back, and a part of Snips listened in awe as their shyest/soft-spoken teammate began to rip the guys who had terrorized her so much a new one.

"Look at you! Look at what you're doing. Do you even know Lucia? Her story, what she's even doing here? No," she said, putting a hand up as some people began to open their mouths, "don't. Because I'm willing to bet that whatever story you think to be true is completely, 100% inaccurate. Or well, mostly inaccurate. So let me tell you _exactly_ what she's doing here."

At this point she looked back, seemingly reassured by the fact that her TL and boss were safe, her TL for once allowing someone else the responsibility. She turned around to face the men again, who were still too shocked that there was a teenager yelling at them to do anything. Good.

"Let them see the person, Red," Sarge said softly in her ear.

"Look at her. Does that look like someone who wants to be here? No, it doesn't," she answered for them. "So let me tell you about her.

"Did you know that Lucia has five brothers and no parents? And her brothers are all younger than her. It's because of Lucia that her family is able to stay together, and it's because of her and her _three_ jobs that they have everything they need. _Three jobs_ on top of her school work."

At this Snips turned to face Sarge, wincing a little. He answered her unspoken question. "Yeah," he said softly. "Ninja told us. And it should've been you telling us, dork." She just turned back to Red.

"Her oldest younger brother, Kyle, also has a couple of jobs. He's sixteen, and the only thing he's worried about is not if he's popular or who's dating who or things that a normal teenager should worry about, but instead how he can sneak another job without his sister noticing to help lighten her load. He's finishing up his junior year, and he's worried about his family's _finance_.

"She has three identical brothers: Ben, Nick, and John. We all basically call them the triplets, because where you find one, you can usually find the others. They also have a couple of jobs, though mostly tutoring or helping their other teammates with baseball practices. They're fifteen and finishing up their sophomore year.

"Her youngest brother is Justin. Justin had a tough life growing up, as did all of the members of this family. His father was abusive towards him, and still haunted his life even after he was able to escape to Lucia and her brothers and they moved away from New York and to Canada.

"Did you know that every night, Justin asks Kyle a single question? A single question he can never get an answer to? He asks him when his big sister is going to come home, and Kyle has no way to answer that, because he has no idea." At this Lucia had to look away, her heart breaking for her brothers even more than it usually did. "The only thing that Kyle could promise Justin was that he would try his very best to bring Lucia home, and to promise him that she was working on a way to get back to them. That's all he could promise his _eight_-year-old little brother. To try his best to find their sister.

"Did you know that Lucia basically grew up with monsters? Monsters who terrorized her, beat her, did horrible things to her?" At this point Red turned back to Lucia, as if to apologize for saying these things, but Lucia merely shifted her head in admission, curious to see where Red was going with this and not caring what information she shared if it got her out of here. "Lucia was just a kid, and she was faced with a difficult choice. A choice no kid should have to make.

"She had a choice to either break down and accept what was happening to her and do nothing about it, or…or she could accept what was happening to her and let it _make_ something of her. And that's what she did. There have been people who've had bad things happen to them and they let it consume them, driving them to do the same horrible things that had happened to them onto someone else, trying to justify their pain with the fact that it was happening to someone else, too. But Lucia was different. She didn't let what happened to her define her. Instead, she used it, refined it, and allowed it to help her grow into someone who could help others. She made a choice to use her…her experiences to help others, protect them from the darkness that had surrounded her as a kid. She grew up in such a way that it's an instinct now, to see a dangerous situation, see a person in danger, and figure out a way to protect them, even if it means that she gets hurt in the process. And that's what she's doing today."

Red took a deep breath, realizing that the next part she was delivering would be crucial to the crowd's view of her friend. They might still see Snips as someone who wanted to be here, chose to be here. She had to make sure they saw what was really happening.

At the same time, though, she felt a rush of adrenaline with that jolt of fear. Was this was Sergeant Parker and his son, what Jules and sometimes others of Team One felt like? That double-cross between adrenaline and fear that came with negotiation, knowing that whatever you said next would have a huge impact on how the day would end, a huge impact on whether it ended in peace or blood? She made a mental note to ask.

"Lucia never wanted to be here. Did you know that she was abducted three months ago? Outside of Laser Quest, with all of us inside, continuing to play a game? She was on her way to work when they came and took her."

"Three months?" Snips whispered.

Sarge turned to face her. "Pretty close, I think. You didn't know?"

The Team Leader shook her head. "I…I tried to keep track of the days, but things happened and I couldn't and…three months?" her voice broke.

"Did you know that about a month after she was taken, the people in charge here abducted someone else? They abducted him, and used him to make Lucia fight. They abducted a military veteran, currently a police officer, named Sam Braddock. They took him and tortured him to make Lucia fight, told her that if she didn't do what they wanted, if she didn't actually fight, then they would kill him."

Snips wanted to ask how they knew this, but saw the ear piece in her teammates' ears and assumed, hoped really, that her team that wasn't there had found Sam and were getting this information from him. Red continued.

"See, Lucia is actually an amazing fighter, but she didn't want to fight. So she threw fights, knowing that the crowd would protest, hoping that when she didn't give them what they wanted, that when they saw that the crowd was upset at watching a kid get the crap beat out of her, they would protest and send her home. But they didn't. They kidnapped Sam and she was forced to do what they wanted.

"Lucia was faced with a choice: to protect someone or watch them die. So she did what she always does, she chose to protect. Because given an opportunity, that will always be her choice, no matter what the consequences. She will always choose to protect others. So now you have a choice to make.

"This choice is going to define you, this choice will be your legacy. Are you going to fight her, knowing that she is almost to the point of not fighting back? Knowing that she probably can't fight back? Or are you going to choose to help her? Help her and Sam get the one thing they've desired since they came here—the chance to go home?

"Which will you choose? What's going to be your legacy? What will define you? Are you going to be the person who fights someone who doesn't want to fight, or are you going to help a kid go home? The choice is up to you. The decision is up to you. So what's it going to be?"

At this point the ring, and crowd above, was dead silent. No one moved, no one breathed. And the only thought Lucia had was: _We really need to let Red negotiate more._

"What's it going to be?" her teammate repeated softly. "How are you going to define yourselves? What do you want your legacy to be?"

For a few minutes, no one moved. Then, one person stepped forward. Lucia recognized him instantly from a couple of fights ago, and moved to her friend's side instinctively, ignoring the pain from her broken body, not trusting the man coming up towards her.

Zeke Davies stopped when he saw the girl move forward, standing beside that teenager protectively, and saw that everything the girl had said was true. The guilt that was washing over him for basically killing her was shoved aside with new determination. He stepped forward again, stopping a few feet away and extending his hand.

Lucia looked down at his hand, then back up at his face, confusion so intense that Zeke wanted to cry. "We didn't know, kid," he said softly. "I swear, _I_ didn't know. So let me help you now."

Lucia studied his face, his eyes, intently, searching for something, what Zeke didn't know. Finally she seemed satisfied, even if she still seemed a bit bewildered as she took a step forward and brought her right hand out to meet his, grabbing it firmly. Zeke held onto it for a minute before releasing it, stepping around so that he was at her right shoulder.

Slowly, more of the men came forward, some looking at her, others refraining from eye contact until all the men that were previously her enemies were standing side-by-side, firmly supporting her and her team.

Red smiled before looking up to where she knew that interview woman was. "They've made their choice," she called. "Now it's time to make yours. What's it going to be? Are you going to continue down this path, one that you know will end in tragedy, or are you going to admit that you were wrong? Accept that it's over. Because there is no way that this will end well for you."

Red wasn't certain exactly what happened next, but she heard Snips suck in a quick breath, felt more than saw her move towards her, grabbing her and twirling her around so that Red's body was shielded by the older teen's.

And then the shot rang out.

**I know, I know. I just love leaving you guys hanging off a cliff like this. But you know what helps me write faster? Cause, this was actually halfway written when I posted the last chapter, and I have nothing written for the next one. But, if you guys *cough, cough* REVIEW *cough, cough* I ****_might_**** be able to ignore all the wonderful homework I have piling up for midterms next week and get the next one written really, really fast! So REVIEW!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry it took so long guys. One word…midterms. Well, midterms and work. So technically, three words. But, I have updated! So read on and tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Flashpoint**

Sharp breathed deeply, just as he had been taught. This was the moment that they had been trained for, and he would not fail his team. He would not fail Team One, and he would not fail his parents. He was going to make them all proud; he was going to prove that he deserved his name.

He listened as Red continued negotiating, watched as the man walked towards his friends, finger lightly pressed against the trigger should the need arise for him to do his job. But there was no need as Snips stepped forward and took this man's hand, and Sharp let out a breath of relief as more and more men walked towards his team.

He took a moment to scan the room, pausing as he watched a woman silently conversing with the man at her side, sniper rifle clearly visible and resting in the man's hands.

"Sarge," he whispered. "I may have two hostiles, one armed. Orders?"

"Are they an imminent threat?"

"No. Talking for now."

"Keep track of them," Sarge ordered. "If they look like they're going to take a shot, you have Scorpio."

"Copy." Sharp focused his sights on this man again, and barely listened as Red began to speak again, looking in the same direction he was. He only noticed as the man lifted his gun up, focusing on the people below. "Put it down," he said softly. "Just put it down." But the man looked over to the woman, who Sharp could only assume was his boss. She nodded at him, and he focused on his target again.

Sharp wasn't going to let either that man or that lady hurt his team. So he breathed deeply once more before squeezing his trigger finger out, hoping that he could fire before his rival.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Not a second before Patrick squeezed the trigger, he felt himself flying backwards, but not in time to stop his shot. He landed on his back, breath winded, as he fought to get air back into his lungs. He could hear people screaming around him, but all he could do was look at the red stain on his chest, noting briefly that he was bleeding, though he couldn't feel it. He wondered if this was how people felt when they died, if they all just stared at the spot of red and wondered why they couldn't feel themselves bleeding, and why that bleeding spot wasn't growing. Shouldn't the more blood he was losing make this spot bigger?

He vaguely made note of his boss leaving him there, leaving him hurt and probably dying. After all, he had just been shot. But then, why was he finding it easier to breathe over time?

He touched his blood, sure it would come off sticky, but instead, it was already slightly dry, and…was that…paint?

He rubbed his fingers together as he took stock of himself again, wanting to make sure.

His breathing was already almost back to normal, though he knew that this was going to leave one gigantic bruise, but he wasn't bleeding. Someone had shot him, yes, but…with a paintball gun?

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Sharp smirked slightly as he watched this guy go through the stages of realizing he was not, in fact, dying and instead he had been merely winded. He pressed the trigger again; watching as his victim suddenly had a very blue face and went down again. Target neutralized.

It took him a minute to realize that the man had actually gotten off a shot and hurriedly scanned the ground below him, looking frantically for his teammates. _Don't be dead, oh please don't be dead._

For a moment all he could see were the men that not minutes before had been fighting his team leader; his friends were nowhere in sight. He let out a breath he did not realize he had been holding as he saw a couple of those men move and help Sarge up from where they had thrown him on the ground. Seeing his boss safe calmed his heart a little from the _pumping so hard it's going to fly out of my chest_ to _if it keeps beating like this I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a bruise from the inside out._

His eyes caught a stain that almost made his heart freeze before he saw a beautiful sight.

There had been only one person injured, and that was only in his shoulder as he had jumped in front of the two teenage girls, throwing them down underneath him, more of the men joining in and forming a human barrier. One person was shot, but no one was dead. Sharp noticed that some more men were coming in, these ones holding guns. His grin was feral, his eyes focused as he began to pull the trigger one more.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Sarge watched with pride, a little bit of horror and a lot of amusement as the men who had been about to attack him and his friends were falling down and screaming as paintball after paintball rained down from above. Some of them were trying to come towards them still, colorfully furious but were met with resistance as the men who had once been fighting Snips were now fighting for her, and Sarge could only watch with awe.

These fight clubs would be so freaking awesome if he hadn't been so freaking terrified that one would kill Snips.

These men were all ridiculously good, and most didn't even mind as they were accidently hit with the colorful arsenal being hailed down on them.

He watched as one man in particular seemed to be dodging everyone around him, heading straight towards the teens. He squatted down near Snips and looked her over for a second, before speaking to the three. "We need to get you guys out of here now."

Sarge and Red nodded. "Snips is hurt," Sarge pointed out worriedly, as he didn't know what to do for her. What worried him most, though, was the fact that Snips had stopped responding to everyone. She barely even flinched when the fingers pressed gently against her neck, and was just staring dully at the scene in front of them. It was like she was losing herself to her brain, finally allowing everything to catch up. It seemed to Sarge that Snips had realized she was somewhat safe, or maybe she didn't feel that she was safe at all, and had just give up. She was folding in on herself, and he had no idea what to do.

The man nodded, fingers still examining the teen. "I know. But I can't look at it in here. We need to get her out of here now. Your friends are waiting on the outside. Let's go."

With that, he carefully picked up Snips bridal-style, paying careful attention to her broken collarbone. "Move."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Sharp, we're getting Snips out of here. Pull back and re-group at the evacuation site."

"Copy. On my way." Sharp fired one last shot before packing away the epic sniper-rifle-paintball-gun that Whiz and Ninja had modified and began to run. He was not upset about leaving this place. He just hoped his parents wouldn't kill him when he returned.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Lucia?"

Sarge had never heard Ninja sound so small, so vulnerable. To make matters worse, Snips didn't even turn to acknowledge her younger brother. She just curled up in on herself, staring at something the rest of them could not see. Sam was out of it too; unable to help them process what was going on with their friend and teammate.

"You guys have a way out of here?"

Sarge snapped out of his thinking and nodded at Jason. "Yeah, we have a couple of cars and a jet waiting to take us home."

Jason lifted an eyebrow at the jet part but didn't say anything further, instead following the teens to the cars that were parked a mile away. He kept an eye on the teen that was shot and Braddock, who was still mostly out of it, but kept his main focus on the girl in his arms.

She was breaking. And the irony was, it took her team coming for them to finally break her.

She had been so strong for so long, but now, faced with the option of finally going home, she had closed herself off from the world, as if terrified that this wasn't real, that she was just making it up in her head and she was afraid of waking up to find herself back in the ring. It was as if she never truly believed that she would ever have the chance to go home.

"Sam," he heard her mutter softly.

"One second, kid," he responded. "You'll see him in a minute."

She struggled for a second against the arms that were holding her, but ultimately stopped. And that's what worried him the most.

He never should've brought her in, he should have fought his boss, but he didn't and now he had the chance to make up for it. And he was taking it. He had to get them out of here _now_.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Everyone else saw that, right?"

Jules question, though quiet, cut through the silent atmosphere. There was some muttered acknowledgement, but mostly everyone was too shocked at what just happened to say anything.

Finally, Ed Lane turned to look at his boss and friend. "Should we ground them or give them a medal?" he asked, half serious.

Parker merely shook his head. He had no idea, but what he saw had put him in between pride for the teenagers/young adults, and fear that they had put their lives in such danger. They had pulled a risky move, and it was a miracle that none of them had been killed. That they knew of.

For all they knew, any member of Team Five, besides Snips who already was, could be seriously hurt right now. All they saw in that ring were Sarge, Snips, and Red. They had to assume that either Wheels or Sharp was the one up above with the paintball gun, but they had not seen either of them. So while they could see three of the teens making their escape from that ring, they had four more that were unaccounted for.

"What do we do, boss?"

Parker rubbed the back of his head as he considered their options, but there really was only one. "We wait," he finally said, sighing. "They obviously didn't want us to be able to contact them, in fear that we would have ordered them to come back home. So now, all we can do is wait for them to come back home."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Um, does she need to go to the hospital first?"

Jason didn't even look up from what he was doing. "No. It's her collarbone that's broken, but it looks like it was a clean break. She'll need to wear this" he held up his creation "sling for awhile, but it should heal fine on its own. It just needs time."

During this whole process, Snips didn't say a word. And that was what worried Sarge the most. She hadn't protested, hadn't greeted anyone, and hadn't asked where they were going. She just sat there and let Jason maneuver her arm into the sling, staring straight into nothingness. It was starting to scare him.

"Snips?" he asked cautiously. "Are you alright?"

He wanted to slap himself for asking such a stupid question. Of course she wasn't all right. But she just seemed so different from when she was in the ring, and he wanted to know why. He wished he knew why.

"Who wants to have the honors?"

Everyone looked up at Wheels, who was holding out a cell phone. "It belongs to Fingers," he explained. "I think it's time our parents know what's going on, but I'd rather not have gone through all of that only to have my dad completely chew me out now. So who wants to call?"

"I'll do it." Sarge picked himself up from the floor of the jet and took the phone from his friend. "If anyone gets to be chewed out on the phone, I guess it should be me."

"I knew there was a reason we made you the boss," Sharp commented, cleaning his gun. Sarge rolled his eyes and went to take a seat as he felt the jet begin to move. Taking a deep breath, he punched in the number he knew by heart.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Parker."

Greg didn't even look to see who was calling him, though thinking back on it, he probably should have. As it was, he was completely unprepared to hear the shaky sigh and then a voice he had desperately wanted to hear. "Dad?"

"Dean?" Everyone's head in that room snapped towards him in that moment. "Dean? Son, where are you? Is everyone okay?"

"We're fine, dad. We're heading home. All of us."

"All of you meaning…"

"Team Five and Sam. We got them out, dad. We're coming home."

For a few moments, Parker was overcome with emotion and couldn't even speak. "Okay. So everyone's okay? Are Sam and Snips okay?"

"Sam's kind of out of it right now, he looks…bad but Jason says he's going to be fine." Parker didn't even bother to ask who Jason was. "Snips…"

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Dean knew he had trailed off for too long when he heard his father gently ask, "How is she doing, buddy?"

_She's scaring me_, he wanted to say. _I'm worried about her and I don't know what to do and I want you to come fix all of this so we can go back to normal._ But he couldn't say those things, because those weren't things that Ninja needed to hear right now. Those weren't things his dad needed to hear halfway around the world. So instead of spilling out his worries, he just said, "She's going to be fine."

"`Going to be', Dean? What's going on with her?"

But Dean couldn't reply as a watery smile slowly crept onto his face. Because Snips was lifting her head, tilting it slightly to one side like she always did when something surprised her, but was a nice surprise. He watched as she slowly lifted an arm and wrapped it around Ninja's shoulders from where he sat right next to her, pulling him closer to her. Dean watched as Ninja's shoulders shook from the barely concealed tears that were cascading down his face and the younger teen buried his face in his sister's shoulders.

"She's been through a lot, dad." Dean knew he was grinning like a fool and knew that his father would read it, but he didn't care. "But she's going to be fine. We're bringing them home."

**I know it's been a while since I updated, but alas, I have updated! So please, please REVIEW and let me know what you think. **


	21. Chapter 21

**Welcome back, readers! I know it's been awhile, but let's continue with Team Five coming back home! Oh what will Team One do?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Flashpoint**

Sergeant Parker, Ed Lane, and the rest of Team One waited anxiously, looking at the sky for any sign of their young team. Finally, Ed pointed up. "There, 11 o'clock."

Obediently, all of Team One turned to their left, letting out a breath of relief as they watched the little dot slowly get larger and the jet come into view. They remained calm outward as inside, their guts churned in preparation of seeing their young friends again, all relaxing fractionally as the jet finally landed.

Parker began moving towards the jet first; watching as the door slowly opened and the teens began to emerge.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Dean squinted as he watched the figure come closer towards him. He turned to his best friend. "How bad do you think this is going to be?"

Clark shook his head. "I don't know. Let's just get this over with."

Dean took a deep breath and looked back towards the rest of his team. Jason was already maneuvering Snips into his arms, careful to keep from jarring her collarbone. The teen hadn't spoken a single word the entire flight back, and had drifted off to sleep about an hour ago. She was still sleeping soundly now, a deep sleep that no one had wanted to wake her up from. He had a feeling no one wanted to wake her up until she was safe in her own home again.

He looked again towards his teammates, who were all watching him steadily. He nodded his head towards the entrance of the jet. "Shall we?"

"You think they're going to kill us?" Red asked, only half joking. She wasn't sure what Jules would do when she saw her.

But Sarge shook his head. "Ground us for the rest of our lives, maybe. But they're probably so impressed with your epic negotiation and Sharp's awesome display that they're going to be too proud to kill us."

The rest of Team Five cracked a few smiles at that, and Sarge finally knew that there was no more hiding from this. He took a deep breath and walked off the jet and into the cool night air.

Wheels was half-expecting his dad to yell at him and he braced himself accordingly for the tall figure advancing towards him. What he did not expect was his father to pull him close and hold him tight, not saying a single word. He looked over at Sarge, who was getting similar treatment from his father, and the rest of Team Five was being greeted mostly the same way.

And that was when he really knew.

They had all been expecting their parents and mentors to be angry or something, but they hadn't truly considered the fact that while their parents were partly angry, they were mostly _terrified_. Snips had been abducted three months ago and they had all been forced to watch her fight for her life. Then Sam had been taken as well, showing that this group didn't care about hurting kids or cops. And Team Five had left without a word, leaving only a note that said they were going _towards_ the danger, putting their own lives at risk.

And it didn't help that while Team One had maybe watched the negotiation, if they had still been streaming it, only three people were on it: Sarge, Red, and Snips. That left Ninja, Sharp, Whiz, and himself unaccounted for, where anything could have happened to him. And he knew his dad had been scared for him. So he said nothing and just hugged his dad back.

Jules greeted Red before turning her attention to Sam, who was starting to regain consciousness again. He blinked confusedly at the approaching figure. "Jules?" he rasped.

"You're safe, Sam. We're going to get you help."

"Where's Snips?"

Jules turned and saw Snips being carried off. "She's safe, too. See?"

Sam turned his head exhaustedly. "What's he doing here?"

"He helped us get you out," Whiz said to Sam. "Do you remember?"

Sam thought hard, but eventually closed his eyes and shook his head mutely. Jules motioned to Spike and Lou, who were waiting patiently. "That's all right," she said. "We'll figure out what happened later. For now, let's get you to a hospital."

The fact that Sam didn't protest about going to a hospital spoke volumes for how the former soldier currently felt. Sam _hated_ hospitals, hated them with a passion. Jules' worry only increased as Spike and Lou supported Sam on each side and helped him out of the jet and towards the waiting cars.

Wordy immediately went to check on Snips.

"Broken collarbone," the man holding her said. "Looks like a clean break, it'll heal up fine. She's just going to need a lot of rest."

"Who are you?"

"Jason. I'm the one who took her."

At this, every single member of Team One froze and looked towards the man holding their sleeping young team leader. Ed started walking towards him slowly when Ninja spoke up.

"He's also the one who helped us get her and Sam out."

The voice was soft, tired. The boy who spoke looked even more tired as he turned and walked away, towards whoever the pilot was. He said something, got a reply, and shook the man's hand. The man turned to head back into his jet as Ninja walked back towards them, and Ed could hear his son muttering, "Don't do it, don't do it."

He was wondering exactly what Clark didn't want whoever to do as the man turned and lifted a hand, giving a sloppy salute, and yelled, "BYE, KIDDIES!"

Sarge stopped his friend. "Let it go, man. I don't think we're ever going to see him again."

"If he calls us 'kiddies' one more time…"

Sharp rolled his eyes. "And here I thought it was his way of saying he cared."

"Who is he?"

Wheels turned back towards his dad. "A really annoying—"

"Old friend who offered to give us a lift," Ninja finished. "Can we please go home?"

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

It turned out that they could not go home, actually. Well, technically they could have, except for the fact that they had never changed out of their gear and had insisted that if Snips and Sam were going to a hospital, they were going with them. Ninja was especially adamant on this fact, and no one had the heart to tell him no. The rest of Team Five just refused to leave their teammate. _Emotional support_, they had said. And Team One could not dissuade them, nor did they want to.

So there they all were, Team Five slouched exhaustedly in the hard-backed chairs, and Team One staring icily at Jason, who was looking back at them calmly. Finally, Parker spoke.

"You were the one who took Snips?"

Jason nodded once. "Yes."

"Why?"

Ninja looked up at this, staring at Jason as he awaited the response. _Why?_ That was the question that had been raging in his mind for the past three months. Why his sister? Why take an eighteen-year-old girl? Why take her away from her family, from him? _Why?_

Jason seemed to sense that Ninja was the one who most needed the answer. "Because my boss ordered me to," he said. "She said to take the kid, so I took the kid."

"You took my sister," Ninja snarled. "She's all me and my brothers have. And you took her."

"I know," Jason nodded. "And I'm sorry. It was wrong and I never should have followed those orders."

Ninja seemed like he wanted to say more, but at that moment a doctor came out. "Sam Braddock? Lucia Macculloh?"

The teens jumped up as Team One got up slowly, Jason staying seated, though he was anxious. "How are they?" Parker asked. The rest of the people said nothing, but they practically bled anxiety. The doctor smiled softly.

"They're both going to be fine. Lucia's collarbone should heal up within a couple of months, though she is going to need a sling. Her other injuries seemed to have been treated properly and right away, so there should be no lasting damage. She's going to be in quite a lot of pain for awhile, but she should ultimately be fine."

"I don't understand," Wordy interrupted. "Who treated her previous injuries?"

As one, Team Five turned to Jason, who shrugged. "It was part of my job."

"As for Sam Braddock," the doctor continued. "Most of his injuries should heal on their own. His feet are going to take a while to heal, and I recommend that he stay in bed rest for a while, though he would do fine with sitting or light activity. He just needs to stay off of his feet for a few days. They're healing nicely."

Ed turned to glare at Jason. "What exactly happened to his feet?"

Jason stared steadily back, and it was the doctor who answered, seeming somewhat uncomfortable at the tension in the room. "They seemed to have been beaten severely."

"What?" Jules gasped.

Ed snarled. "I don't suppose you had anything to do with that?"

Jason shrugged his shoulders, though he seemed apologetic. "He and the kid tried to run. I told them not to touch her, she had another fight coming up and I wouldn't be able to keep her alive if they beat her senseless. So they took it out on him."

"You could have stopped it!" Jules cried, being restrained by Wordy.

Finally, Jason stood. "One voice against the crowd doesn't carry very far," he said quietly. "I couldn't get them out of there without help, and no one would be willing to cross the boss. I did what I could, and mostly what I could do was fixing them up after they got hurt. I'm _sorry_."

"Can we see them?" a new voice interrupted. Everyone turned to Ninja.

He was confusing most of his friends and Team One. Out of everyone here, they expected him to be the most aggressive towards Jason, but he after his one outburst, he seemed almost not to care about the man that had caused his sister's disappearance. "Can we see them?" he asked again, anxious. "Please?"

"Only two at a time," the doctor replied. "Their rooms are right next to each other. 352 and 354."

Ninja turned his pleading gaze to his friends, but he didn't need to. It wasn't like they were going to tell him he couldn't be the first one to visit his sister. "Wordy, why don't you go too," Parker said softly. It would do well to keep one member of each team together, so the older team could help the younger one. Wordy nodded and followed the already disappearing Ninja into room 352.

"Jules, Red," Parker continued. "Go ahead and visit Sam."

They didn't need to be told twice. They were gone and into the room next to Snips' before Parker had even finished speaking. The rest of the two teams sat down again to wait. Parker and Ed had a silent conversation with each other before motioning Jason up and down the hall.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"You're up!" Red exclaimed.

She ran to Sam's side, hesitating only briefly before Sam reached out one arm and pulled her close. He looked at Jules, who was walking towards him, tears brimming in her eyes. She went to his other side, getting close to him. They sat like that for a while before Jules pulled back. "How are you feeling?"

Red pulled back too, looking anxiously at her father figure. He smiled softly, still clearly tired. "I'm going to be fine. I'm a little tired and sore, but I'm going to be fine. How's Snips?"

"We haven't seen her yet. Kyle and Wordy are with her now," Jules replied.

"But did the doc say anything? Is she going to be okay?"

"The doctor said she's going to be fine," Jules assured Sam, pushing him down softly as his anxiety for his young friend caused him to start to get up, seemingly to get to her. "And she's with Kyle and Wordy. She's going to be fine."

Sam seemed to be okay with this as he fell back against the bed. "What exactly happened?" he asked softly, almost like he was fighting to stay awake.

Jules turned to Red, who bit her lip and looked down. "Um…"

"Team Five decided to take matters into their own hands," Jules supplied, raising an eyebrow at Red. "They went off the grid, in an unchartered flight, and went into the ring with absolutely no back-up."

"They what?" Sam's eyes flew open again as Red crossed her arms.

"We did too have back-up," she said hotly. "We had each other."

"You are _teenagers_," Jules stressed.

"Trained teenagers," Red retorted. "You weren't allowed to do anything to get them back, so we did."

"You were lucky you weren't killed!" Jules snapped, and then lowered her voice with an effort. "You all worried us."

"We had to do something, Jules," Red begged her older friend to understand. "We couldn't just do nothing."

"How did you get an unchartered flight?" Sam asked. Jules turned to him and then Red; the thought hadn't really crossed her mind.

Red merely shrugged. "Ninja knew a guy."

Sam stared at her before lying against the pillow again. "I don't want to know."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Please wake up."

Wordy closed his eyes briefly before walking up to Kyle's side, putting an arm around the shaking shoulders and pulling him close. At this point it was hard to see the teen as anyone but Kyle, a boy yearning desperately for his sister to awaken. "She's going to be okay," he said softly.

Kyle turned to press his face against Wordy's chest, trembling. "I want her to wake up," he whispered. "Why won't she wake up?"

"She's healing, buddy. And right now, rest is the best healer. This is good for her, okay?" He paused and pulled away from Kyle, looking him in the eye. "Her resting is a good thing, okay? It just means she'll heal faster." Kyle hesitated for a moment before nodding, and Wordy pulled him back into his arms. Kyle didn't say anything, just clung to Wordy like he was the only thing keeping him alive in the moment.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Ryan?"

"Sean?"

"Kyle!"

The three boys snapped their heads up as their names all came at once. Sharp and Whiz hesitated briefly, but Kyle merely took one step and knelt down, opening his arms and catching the tiny projectile that had launched itself towards him, hugging his little brother closely. Justin latched his hands around Kyle's neck, refusing to let go as Kyle stood up. Ben, Nick, and John all gathered around the two, and the five stood together for a while.

Sharp and Whiz glanced at each other and seemed to brace themselves before standing up and approaching their parents. Whiz didn't even have time to say anything before his mother engulfed him, teary-eyed and clingy. His father didn't say anything, just clapped him on the shoulder.

Sharp glanced awkwardly at his parents, but stood firm. Finally, after what felt like forever but was probably only a minute or so, he spoke. "I'm sorry I missed graduation," he began, "but I'm not sorry why I missed it. My team needed me."

His mother nodded and hugged him, but Sharp still stared at his father. His father hesitated, and then held up his hand, handing something to his son. Sharp took it, confusion turning to a teary smile as he looked at his diploma. He glanced up at his father, eyes hopeful.

"I'm proud of you."

Sharp let out a shaky breath and reached out to embrace his father, holding onto him tightly.

"I'm proud of you," Wheels said, breaking the moment as he shook his head and turned to his father. "Can you start with that instead of the lecture I know you want to tell me?"

"Sure," Ed replied. "And _then_ I'll give you the lecture. It's quite a good one, I assure you."

"Lectures can wait," said Sophie as she approached her husband and son, pulling them close together. "For now, I think these guys need a good night sleep."

"Wait a minute," Whiz said, pulling back from his mom. "How are you here?"

"Well, there's these things called cars," Red said jokingly.

"I meant how did you know we were here?" Whiz reiterated, shooting a withering glare at his teammate, who merely grinned.

"We contacted them," Parker said. "I think your parents deserved to know their children were safe, don't you?"

Whiz nodded, and then focused on his other teammate.

"Is Lucia here? Can we see her?"

Kyle looked at his brothers. "She's here," he said carefully, "but she's still sleeping right now."

"But can we see her?" John pressed. Kyle looked towards Wordy, who nodded.

"I don't see any reason why not," he said. "Just be prepared guys. Lucia was hurt pretty badly, but she's going to be fine. She's resting, which is going to help her heal faster, okay?"

They all nodded, and turned to start towards her room, following Kyle. A nurse halted them. "I'm sorry," she said, about to no doubt state some reason why the boys couldn't go in the room, but John turned to stop her.

"Our sister is in there," he said, "and we're going to visit her."

That was all he said. He didn't demand it, he didn't plead, he merely said it as a fact, and there was a calm conviction in his voice. The nurse hesitated again but decided that it probably would be best to let them be on their way. She nodded and let them continue.

Sarge watched with the rest of his team as the five brothers entered the room. "Is it just me or are they all scary?"

"He wasn't even being scary when he said that," Whiz pointed out. "He just said it."

"I know," Sarge replied. "And the nurse let them go in without another word."

All the adults looked strangely at their children as the teens nodded in agreement. "They are scary."

"Nah," Spike said. "They're just secretly Jedi who know how to control someone's thinking."

"Please don't encourage them," Parker sighed.

**I know I could probably have gone on, but between work and school and homework and trying to get a hold of something called sleep, this is all I could come up with. I hope you enjoyed! Please review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey all, I know that the last chapter ended off strangely, and I apologize for that. I hope this one does better for you!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Flashpoint**

"So, does this mean we can go home?"

Shelley thought carefully before answering Nick. "I'm not sure that that's the best idea for right now, sweetheart."

Nick looked over at his brothers. Justin was curled up beside Ben in the window; John slouched in one of the hospital chairs. Kyle was leaned back in his chair by Lucia's bed, exhaustion clearly marked on his face even as he slept deeply. On the bed, Lucia was still asleep, having not yet woken up.

"What happened to her?"

The question that had been bothering him ever since his sister was taken was finally out in the open. His brothers had sworn to themselves that they would not ask, but she was back now. Back, and safe, and he wanted to know what had happened to her. Why she had been taken. When she would be up. He wanted to know.

Shelley leaned in closer to Nick, and he rested his head on her shoulder. She had offered to sit with the kids when it became evident that they would not be leaving until Lucia woke up, telling Kevin to go home and rest for a bit with the girls. "I don't exactly know, Nick. I know she went through a very difficult time these past few months, and she's going to need time to heal."

"But shouldn't we be with her while she heals? Won't we help?" Nick pleaded. He wanted to be with his sister again.

Before Shelley could come up with a response, there was a loud beeping that was rapidly increasing. They both jerked their heads towards the heart monitor, then Lucia. In their different spots, Kyle, Ben, John, and Justin all woke up as well, trying to figure out what was going on. They all looked at Lucia, who was twitching and muttering, and Kyle just had time to back away from the bed when nurses came rushing in and Lucia started thrashing in the bed, screaming incoherently.

Nurses pushed Shelley and the boys out of the room as they went over to stand over Lucia's bed, talking at each other about things that the boys couldn't understand. Justin started crying and Shelley leaned over to pick him up, murmuring words softly to him. "What's happening?" Nick asked shakily.

Kyle was shaking his head. "I don't know."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"First off, your sister is fine. It seems that she was having a nightmare," a nurse was explaining gently. "She's sleeping soundly now, she's fine."

"Do you know when she'll wake up?"

"Her body is healing, and for that she needs rest. She'll wake up when she's ready. It's completely up to her."

Well, apparently Lucia felt that now was another time to 'wake up'. They could hear her thrashing inside the room, and the nurse that was talking with them hurried in. The boys and Shelley hurried after her. When they got inside they froze. Lucia had shot up in her bed, eyes wide and completely terrified. "Sam?" she croaked.

The nurse called out for help before approaching Lucia. "Lucia, my name is Nurse Adams. I just need to take your vitals, okay?"

But apparently Lucia was not okay with this. She crawled back to the edge of the hospital bed she was in, flinching when Adams took another step towards her. The nurse stopped. "Lucia, no one here is going to hurt you, okay?"

But Lucia clearly wasn't listening. "Sam?" she asked again, a bit more desperately. She pulled her arms around her knees, drawing them close to her, and finally noticed the IV that was in her arm. When she saw it, she flinched again and jerked it out of her arm, much to the nurse's protests.

Unfortunately, the other nurses and doctors chose that moment to make their entrance. They had entered just in time to see Lucia rip the needle from her arm, and all shouted their protests. This, however, just caused her to cower back farther against the back of the bed, closing in on herself and mumbling something over and over.

"Kyle, what's going on with her?"

When John didn't immediately get a reply, he looked to his older brother only to find him gone. "Kyle?" But Kyle had disappeared.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Wake up."

Sam's eyes snapped open, and he wished he hadn't done that, because the light was really bright. He closed them again, trying to get control of his now raging headache. "What?"

He heard some noise and turned to see Ninja working a wheelchair out of the closet. "I need you to wake up, Sam. Please."

"What's going on?"

"Lu finally woke up. But she's scared and she's asking for you. Please?"

"Help me out of this bed."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Nurse, get me another sedative. _NOW_."

The doctors and nurse fought to keep Lucia restrained to the bed, having kicked her brothers and Shelley out when the boys wouldn't calm down. Lucia was bucking, screaming, clawing and kicking, trying to get free. She got worse every time she saw a needle coming towards her, and they couldn't get her to calm down. She had already broken two sedatives, and they were trying another one.

"Let go of her and back up."

Lucia instantly stilled, breath still coming rapidly. The nurses all looked over to see their blonde-haired patient in a wheelchair, being pushed towards them by the oldest brother. "Just let go of her. Let me talk to her."

They hesitated, but ultimately did what he asked them to do, releasing their grips and backing off, giving the officer some room.

Kyle wheeled Sam closer to the bed, putting the wheelchair in park. He hesitated, obviously torn, and then backed off. As much as he wanted to be with his sister, he knew that she needed Sam more right now, and he just wanted her to get better so that he and his brothers could be with her. So he backed off and waited patiently for Sam to bring his sister back from wherever her mind had taken her.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"Shelley? What's going on?"

Shelley looked up to see Jules coming towards her. "Lucia's up. It seems like she's had a panic attack. Sam's in there with her now."

Jules looked around at the clearly upset nurses and doctors and even more upset brothers. "I take it she didn't want anyone else in there?"

Shelley shook her head and lowered her voice. "She was terrified, didn't recognize any of us. The doctors were trying to sedate her, but she kept fighting them. She calmed down only when she saw Sam."

Jules shook her head. "I don't blame her. It's been her, Sam, and the people who took her for three months now. And before Sam was taken, it was her, on her own, for about a month. He's probably her lifeline right now."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

"You with me, Snips?"

Sam watched as the teen nodded shakily. "I want to go home," she whispered, voice cracking.

Sam maneuvered the wheelchair to the table next to her bed and grabbed a cup of water and handed it to her. She looked at it distrustfully. "Snips," he said quietly. She glanced up at him, shaking with effort of sitting upright. "Do you trust me?" She nodded, not even hesitating. "Do you really think I would give you something that was drugged?" he carried on gently.

"If you thought it would help me," she said back, sounding completely certain. Her voice took on a slightly begging quality. "I don't want to be drugged, Sam," she whimpered, close to whining. "I want to go home."

"We'll be home soon, kiddo," Sam promised. "But you've been pretty banged up. They want to make sure that you're completely healed before you go home."

She was quiet for a few minutes, and Sam didn't say anything, didn't move. Finally, she reached out a trembling arm for the water, which Sam passed silently to her. She took a cautious sip, and then proceeded with small sips. Sam held back a wince. No kid should know to drink that slowly. "Where are we?" she asked when she finished the cup.

He levered himself out of the wheelchair and onto the bed beside her, and she leaned into him, pressing herself as close as possible to him. He drew his left arm around her and pulled her close, taking as much comfort from her as she was from him. He was so relieved to have her awake and talking, he almost couldn't speak himself. He had been so afraid of what was going to happen to her. "Back home," he was finally able to say. "Team Five pulled a rescue op and brought us back home. We're in a hospital right now." He shifted slightly so they were leaning against the pillows, as his strength was slowly waning. He answered her unspoken question. "We got here sometime last night. Been here maybe fifteen hours or so."

She yawned, and he winced at the bones cracking in her jaw. "I want to go home," she mumbled. "Not here. Home."

He pulled her closer, shifting so that she would be more comfortable. "Soon, kiddo," he promised. "Soon."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

After an hour of waiting, it seemed that the doctors weren't going to wait anymore. They rose and opened the door, but halted just inside the room. The boys weren't aware of what was happening, but if that door was open, they were going to see their sister. So they pushed through the adults.

Shelley smiled softly and Jules looked like she wanted to take a picture of this moment, which she finally did. No one wanted to make a sound and disrupt this moment.

Sam was lying on his back, upper body resting on the pillows. His eyes were closed, his breathing even, and his entire posture was relaxed to the doctors. But Jules knew him. Knew that even though he was sleeping, he was on high alert, almost daring someone to come and try to take the teenager by his side away from him.

Snips, on the other hand, had her guard completely down. Her face was relaxed and she was on her side, gripping Sam's shirt in her hands as she curled up beside him, head resting on Sam's shoulder. Her brothers had to smile at this; because they knew her well enough to know that she was in a deep sleep, something that she very rarely did. Normally she was at least a little on guard, but she wasn't even a little here. It was like she had complete and utter faith that Sam wouldn't let anything bad happen to her.

Neither, however, had an IV line, something the doctors were very put out upon. They looked like they were trying to figure out how to get one back in to each of their patients when Jules motioned them out the door _again_. The triplets had to stifle a laugh at the looks on their faces and Kyle and Shelley both shot them a look. Nevertheless, everyone obediently filed into the hall again; gathering some bemused looks from patients and nurses everywhere else.

Jules quietly shut the door. "Doctor, do you think that they would be okay with leaving today?"

They all immediately began to protest, but Jules held up her hand. For a small woman, she held a lot of authority. "One person," she ordered.

"Miss—"

"Officer Callaghan," she interrupted.

"Officer," the doctor began again, "they are severely dehydrated and malnourished, and the wounds that each of them have to begin with—"

But Jules interrupted yet again. The boys were beginning to look at her with awe as she flawlessly handled the doctor and practically ordered him to let their sister come home. "Is there anything that food, water, and a lot of rest would heal?"

"They'll need some pain medication," the doctor said hesitantly, after obviously trying to think of something else.

"Which can be prescribed."

"Well—yes, I suppose. I think we would all feel more comfortable if they spent the night here, though, where we could watch over them."

"And I think that they would feel more comfortable spending the night at their homes, where they feel safe and can get better sleep."

The doctor stood there, jaw agape as she faced Jules, trying to find another reason for her patients to stay. The boys were all grinning openly at the prospect of their sister coming home. Finally, the doctor relented.

"Very well," she said. "But they need to get a good night's sleep tonight, and I would prefer it if they spent most of the day in bed tomorrow, as well. Rest is going to be their friend. They'll heal faster if they use it."

Jules nodded. "All right." She turned to Shelley. "Can you start getting Lucia signed out? I'll get Sam his paperwork and call the Boss." Shelley nodded and the boys grinned and slapped high-fives as the two women got the paperwork to take their heroes home.

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this. Probably just one or two more chapters to finish this up. Please review!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Flashpoint**

When Greg Parker pulled up to the house, he wasn't quite sure what to expect. But a small part of him couldn't say he was completely surprised when he saw all of Team Five there, along with most of Team One.

The teens were looking anxiously at him as he got out of the driver's seat and moved to the back. Jules was slowly helping Sam out of the backseat and into the wheelchair she had set up.

Parker debated for a moment before looking across the seats at Sam. He wasn't sure if he should wake up Snips or not.

Sam motioned him to back off a bit before he quietly said her name. Snips' eyes shot open and Parker could see her fear before she slowly realized that they were not enemies. She looked around frantically for a moment before her eyes focused on Sam. He smiled gently at her. "I told you we would be home soon."

The look she got on her face was almost comical if it hadn't been so heartbreaking. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers and her mouth fell slightly open, as if she couldn't actually believe that she was, in fact, home.

She got out of the car tenderly, checking herself over mentally to make sure she could actually walk before she turned to face her house again, her face becoming slightly guarded as she saw all the people there. Then the next car pulled up.

Shelley hadn't even put the car in park before the boys were out, almost shaking as they forcibly held themselves back from the sister, wanting to make sure she felt comfortable enough for them to go over to her.

Kyle took a tentative step towards her, unsure of whether or not to continue. But Justin, however, felt no reservation. His brothers didn't have time to catch him before he was flying towards Lucia.

She flinched a little as she saw him running towards her, but then her eyes softened and a small smile edged its way up her face as she knelt down and caught Justin, stroking his hair and hanging on tight. Justin was sobbing, babbling about something that no one could quite catch.

The other boys took this as a cue to let loose, and they all bolted to her. She grinned at them, offering side hugs as Justin was still clinging to her, and they all stayed together for a minute before Lucia slowly stood.

She turned to face her team, her friends, and her smile remained on her face, even as she flinched slightly when they all started moving towards her. They hesitated, noticing the flinch, but she took matters into her own hand and moved towards them, enveloping Sarge in a hug before moving on and greeting everyone else. Everyone was smiling, even as she noticeably stayed away from all of Team One except for Sam. No one could blame her. Adults had been hurting her for the past three months—they wouldn't be surprised if it took her awhile to even look at them again.

Finally, Kyle came up and leaned against his sister, who rested her arm around his shoulders. "Ready to go home?"

She smiled at her brothers. "Born that way."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

It was decided that there was to be a huge sleepover that night at the siblings' house, much to the chagrin of Team Five's parents. They wanted their children home, but understood that the teens needed to be with their friend.

Along with Team Five, Sam, Jules, and the Wordsworths also stayed over at the house, just to be on the safe side. Jules, Wordy, and Shelley were all sitting in the living room, talking as Justin and the girls were playing a game on the floor. The triplets were supervising, occasionally pointing out better ways to go and what trades to make. Kyle absolutely refused to come anywhere near the game. "Monopoly ruins friendships," he informed the younger kids gravely. "Ask Lu. We wouldn't speak to each other for an entire week after we played a game once. We haven't played it since."

Claire's eyes were wide as she looked at her sisters and friends. "Kyle and Lucia are afraid of Monopoly," she said, confused. "I thought you couldn't be afraid of a game."

The triplets snickered as Kyle raised an eyebrow at the girl. But he still refused to play the game. So instead, most of Team Five were in the basement outside of Lucia's room, debating on what movie they wanted to watch. All of them occasionally turned to glance at the door behind them, the door that was hiding their friend. Sam had managed to make his way down the stairs and was currently entering the room.

"Everyone wants to see you, you know," he said quietly, closing the door behind him. He turned to face the girl who was leaning against her pillows, hugging a stuffed puppy close to her.

"Sorry," she whispered.

"You've got nothing to apologize for," he rebutted, shaking his head. "I'm just curious why you're in here when you could be out there with your friends. You seemed so happy to see them outside."

"Justin was so happy," she admitted softly. "I didn't want to make him upset by moving away. And it wouldn't have been fair to just see him or just see my brothers. I don't want to make them upset."

"Lucia," Sam said quietly. It took her a minute, but she eventually looked up. "You were abducted and forced to fight, and hurt quite severely doing so. You were drugged and hurt, and I'm not saying these things to belittle you in some way," he added when she cringed down. "I'm saying them to say that if anyone has a reason to be wary around people right now, it's you. You went through something horrible, and it will take time for you to heal, and not just your physical scars. But don't hide away from your family and friends. We want to help you."

"I don't want to see them," she admitted. "I don't want to see anyone. They'll just want to ask what happened. Say they want to talk. I don't want to do that."

"So tell your friends that you don't want to talk. They'll understand." He watched her for a moment as she played with the stuffed puppy's ears. "Snips, you can't hide away in your room forever. Eventually, you're going to have to face other people."

She sighed and sank farther into her pillows. "I don't know if I can."

"You can't let this defeat you," Sam growled, and Snips shot up, staring at him in shock. "I know that what happened was horrible, Snips, but you can't let it eat at you until you're a former shell of yourself. You let it eat at you, you let it keep you from your friends and family, and you will never be the same. You were so strong. I need you to be strong for a little bit longer. You don't have to talk with your friends right now. They're about to watch a movie. Go and watch it with them. But don't let what happened to you carry you down to the point you're afraid to talk with your friends. Don't let what happened to you destroy you."

They were silent for a few minutes, Snips processing what she had just been told. "I don't have to talk to them?" she asked finally.

Sam shook his head. "Just go out and watch a movie. Eat a ridiculous amount of popcorn. Have ice cream."

"I don't want to get sick."

"So eat it slowly," Sam smirked. It took a few seconds, but eventually she smiled back.

"Will you stay with me for a little bit?" she asked hesitantly, as if ashamed of wanting him with her. But she didn't want him to say no. Sam had been her rock for so long, she wanted him around her to keep her in balance.

"Of course," he replied warmly, motioning to the door. "What kind of movie are we gonna watch?"

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

They had eventually settled down on watching the movie _Brave_, though Snips had fallen asleep halfway through it. Sam stayed by her side, watching over her as she curled up on one of the fluffy chairs in the basement. The rest of Team Five watched the movie as their own eyes drooped, trying to stay awake for the last half hour or so. Eventually, though, one by one they dropped into sleep, exhausted by the past few days. Only Ninja stayed awake the entire time, eyes darting to his sister on more than one occasion.

"She's not going anywhere, you know," Sam said softly after Ninja glanced at his sister yet again. She was moving a bit restlessly in her sleep, exhaustion lining her face.

Ninja glanced at him, thoughtful. "Maybe," he agreed. "But she's not totally here right now, is she?"

Sam shifted slightly in his stupid wheelchair. "What do you mean?"

"She's not fully back yet. I know my sister, Sam." The teen gazed at said sister for a minute as the move played softly in the background. "She was hesitant today when Justin ran to her. She didn't want to hurt him, but she didn't want to be touched, either. It took her a lot of effort to greet the others, and that's not who she is. I think a part of her was left in that ring."

Sam was silent for a moment, debating on how to answer this much-too-knowledgeable boy. "She went through something horrible," he finally said. "It's going to take her a while to come back from it."

"What can I do to help?"

Ninja's voice was pleading, wanting more than anything to help his sister.

"Give her time. I know that's not the answer you want to hear, buddy," Sam said gently, "but it's what she needs. Give her time, and be there for her. She's afraid you guys are going to want to talk about what happened to her, and she doesn't want to."

"But won't talking help her?"

"Yes, but not just yet. She just got back, Kyle. She's still trying to adjust to the fact that she is safe now, and not in that ring anymore. Her body has been beaten, bruised, and drugged. She's in self-preservation mode, and it takes time to come to the realization that she is no longer in danger."

"Like a soldier coming home?"

Sam didn't have the opportunity to respond as the topic of their conversation began to shift frantically, mumbling something. It lasted for one second before she bolted up; thrown off balance by the chair she was curled up in.

She stumbled off, landing on her knees and breathing heavily. Sam shook his head at Kyle, who was tempted to get up, and motioned him to stay still. Snips had her eyes closed, her breaths short and erratic.

"Snips?" Sam asked softly. He maneuvered himself out of the wheelchair and onto his knees beside the teen. "Sniper breathing, Snips. In…2,3,4… and out, 2, 3, 4. In…and out." Slowly, Snips changed her breathing to match that of Sam's, and eventually she was able to look up at him, tears slowly brimming until they silently spilled over. He pulled her into his grasp, and she clung onto him, keeping herself silent.

Kyle watched helplessly, wishing there was something he could do. Finally, Snips seemed to notice that she had another person in the room. She turned, and her eyes widened as she caught sight of her brother. She whipped back around to face Sam. "This wasn't a dream?" she whispered.

Sam shook his head, grinning slightly. Snips emitted a small sound and threw herself at Kyle, grabbing him tightly. The boy returned the hug, burrowing his head into her shoulder. "I missed you," he mumbled.

"I missed you too," she mumbled back, voice cracking. "So, so much."

"I know you don't want to talk about it," Kyle said softly, "but I'm here. I'll always be here."

"I can't," she whispered. "I can't."

"I know," he agreed. "But you're my sister, Lu. Just tell me what you need. Let me help you. However I can help."

"What's today?" she whispered.

"What?" Kyle asked in surprise, pulling back.

"I don't know what day it is," she said softly, looking down. "I know it's been like three months, so I know it's sometime in April or May, but I don't know what day it is. I wanted you to tell me."

"May 2nd," Kyle said softly back, searching her eyes.

She shook her head, a smile lighting up her face. "You staged a rescue op on graduation day?"

Kyle shrugged, smirking slightly. "It was actually Sharp's and Whiz's idea," he blamed. "We had all been planning to sleep here that day anyway. Was a good way to get together without Team One growing suspicious."

"Good plan," Sam approved. "And I guessed it worked."

"What can we say," Sarge yawned. "We're highly trained, highly motivated teenagers. Of course it worked."

"And it worked cause we're Team Five," Wheels agreed. All of Team Five was waking up now, seeing the ending credits roll on the screen. "We're just awesome."

"Are you okay, Snips?" Red asked softly.

Snips hesitated. "I won't be able to talk about what happened to me for awhile," she admitted. "But I will be okay. I just need time," she said, looking over at Sam, who smiled softly.

"We'll be here for you," Sarge said. "Whatever you need. We'll be here."

**Well, it seems like there is going to be one more chapter after this. An epilogue to finish it all off. Please read and review. Please, please, please review. I love reviews. I live off of reviews. You know what makes me happy? REVIEWS!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Thanks to a wonderful review from missblueeyes63, I have changed Ace to a service dog. Thank you very much!**

**I hope you enjoy this quick little revised version of the epilogue!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Flashpoint**

"How's she doing?"

Ninja sighed and shook his head as he faced Sergeant Parker. "She's scared, sir," he admitted quietly, "though she won't say anything about it. But I know she has issues falling asleep, and she doesn't want to go outside. I can barely convince her to go out on the front porch. I can't remember the last time we ran together. I mean, I even understand that, but I can't even get her to spar with me." He looked down at that point. "And no offense to Wordy, but it's not the same sparring with him than with Snips. It's not fun. I can't remember the last time it was fun. Was definitely before she was taken. I can't even lift my arm without her flinching. It's like all her confidence just…disappeared."

And that was the crux of the matter, Parker knew. Before she was taken, Snips was a confident, energetic young lady who knew what she was capable of and wasn't afraid of being who she was. Ever since she was brought back, a month earlier, she had been a former shell of herself. She barely ever spoke and flinched when someone touched her accidently, especially if she wasn't expecting it.

"I don't know what to do."

Parker looked down at the quiet confession. The seventeen-year-old was looking down, as if ashamed by not having the answer. He laid a hand on his shoulder. "Sometimes we don't have all the answers," Parker said quietly. "Sometimes, all we can do is be there."

"She deserves more than that," Ninja said bitterly. "After everything she's been through, she was always able to come out smiling. She deserves to be able to smile after this, too." He looked pleadingly at his mentor. "Sir, I need to make her smile again. What can I do?"

Both continued staring out the window until something passed and Parker got an idea. It might not work, but on the other hand, it just might be the thing their young team leader needed.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

Ninja waited patiently for the shower to stop, not really paying attention to the book he was reading. He would glance at it every few seconds, but he wasn't catching the words. He cocked his head as the water came to a halt and waited a little bit more.

Finally he knew she was out of the bathroom and changed. He walked up and rapped on the door once before just going in. He cringed inwardly at the desolate look in her eyes but forced a smile on his face. "I need a favor, Lu," he said timidly.

This time it was she who cocked her head a bit at him. Something was off, she knew, but she couldn't quite place what. "Of course, Kyle. What's up?"

"Go for a walk with me."

And there it was. She finally placed it. Kyle never sounded timid, not even in the scariest situations. He had planned it so that he would get her to agree with what he wanted. "Kyle—"

"Please," he interrupted quietly. "We don't even have to walk. We can drive. Just come with me. Please?"

And there it was, that pleading note she couldn't quite deny. She knew that she hadn't been the same since she got back, had been distant, but she couldn't quite allow herself to get over her fear and back to the way things were. She couldn't even bring herself to go out the front door. But she knew her brothers and everyone else was worried about her, and maybe this was one way to stop their worry. "A drive," she finally said. She saw the way her little brother's face lit up and it was worth the feeling of dread in her stomach. At least she could lock the doors on the car. It would be hard for anyone to get to her in the car.

She let Kyle take the keys as she sat in the passenger seat and immediately locked the door after she closed it. Kyle crawled into the drivers seat and copied his sister. He immediately put the car in drive and pulled smoothly out of the drive. "Where are we going?" she asked softly. She knew he had a destination in mind.

He looked at her briefly. "SRU," he responded.

She sighed and leaned back against the seat, though her senses remained high on alert. She should have known.

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

When she walked into the building she had come to love in the past year, her footsteps were timid, insecure. Winnie smiled at the two siblings. "Hey Ninja, hey Snips," she said softly.

"Hey Winnie," they responded, Snips quiet.

"They're waiting in the briefing room."

Instantly Snips turned to glare at her brother. "Who's waiting?" she asked accusingly.

But Ninja just smiled. "You'll see."

He grabbed her gently around the wrist and pulled her forward, gentle but firm. "Please trust me, Lu," he said softly. "We just want to help."

"Maybe I don't want your help," she said stiffly, though she knew she was being unfair.

"Maybe you don't," he acknowledged. "But we want to give it anyway. You don't have to stay if you don't want to, but we have someone we want you to meet." She tensed, but he was relentless. "I think you'll like him."

She was reluctant, but she knew that he really wanted this, and she wanted him to smile again. Not those fake smiles he kept forcing up, but those real ones that lit up his whole face. So though she was dreading every second of this, she forced herself to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving.

She definitely wasn't expecting the sight before her.

All of Team One, Team Five, and some of the members of the other teams were standing in the room, hopeful smiles on their faces. Sitting on the floor, leash held in Red's hand, was a dog.

It was a pit bull, maybe a little mix of something in there, but gorgeous none the less. It was a mottle of colors, white splashed with black and brown. One of his ears was white with a black tip and the other was brown. The main part of his body was white with brown streaks, white legs with three black paws and one still white. The tail was a mix of brown and white.

"This is Ace," Ninja introduced. Snips looked at him curiously.

Sergeant Parker continued. "He was rescued about a year ago from a dog fight ring." Snips raised an eyebrow at this, and Parker had to quirk out half a smile. "Yeah, I know. But the people that rescued him said that he's extremely protective and loyal. He's also quite intelligent. Every command they taught him he got right away. We thought that you two might get along."

Snips wanted to say no, but her curiosity was too intense. She squatted down, stretching out her right hand and whistling softly, palm up. Red dropped Ace's leash as the dog hesitantly got up and walked cautiously over to the girl on the ground. She held out her note for a few seconds before letting it drop, and then repeated it again.

Ace sniffed her hand before letting his tail waved softly. He continued up her arm, coming eventually to her face as she pet him softly, fondling his ears and smiling gently. And that smile nearly made Ninja break down and cry from happiness.

Sam walked tenderly over to the girl and dog, still a bit cautious on his feet. He kneeled down next to her. "I know you don't want to talk with us about what happened," he said softly, "but dogs are great listeners, and they're never going to tell your secrets. And I have a feeling that once Ace gets to know you, he won't let anything happen to you."

Snips couldn't seem to draw her eyes away from the dog before her. "I can't keep him."

"Yes, you can, Snips," Sam said softly. "He's for you."

Snips looked at her brother a little helplessly. "Ninj, you know we—"

"You don't have to worry about payments," Parker interrupted.

Spike popped in. "See, we've all wanted a mascot here for a while, anyway, so we decided Ace here is going to be that mascot. So the SRU is going to pay for everything; food, vet bills, everything."

Sarge picked up. "He's yours, Snips, and he's completely free. All you need to do is say yes."

FPFPFPFPFPFPFP

In the months that followed, things began to look up.

Sam was able to walk around easier again, and was allowed to go back to work if he stayed in the truck at first. Next week, he would be allowed back into action.

Snips' brothers all returned home, and everyday Shelley made sure to stop by and check in on them. She offered help with homework and continued her cooking lessons with the boys, sometimes bringing her own daughters and supplies over.

Snips herself was getting better and more confident each day. Little by little, she began to make progress and was soon even walking down the street without anyone else around her. Excluding Ace, of course.

Ace was a constant companion for his new master. He followed her faithfully everywhere. He enjoyed playing with the boys, but only if she was in the room. Otherwise, he was in her room, laying beside her as she read, standing guard outside the bathroom door if she showered, or sitting beside her as she closed in on herself and streamed silent tears down her cheeks. During those last times, he would lick her wrist and whine, sometimes going to get Kyle when she wouldn't respond at first.

He walked with her everywhere, or rode in the car with her. People soon became familiar with seeing Ace accompanying his master into different stores or running around town. Because the SRU had registered Ace as an Emotional Support Animal for Snips, he was allowed everywhere she went, which offered a sense of protection and safety for the teenager. The SRU stayed true to their word and paid for everything, from vet visits and food to the classes Snips and Ace had to attend for working with a service dog. At first people were wary of the large pit bull, but he was friendly with everyone, though guarded if Snips was wary. He protected her first and foremost. Anytime she seemed nervous, he went on alert, standing guard if anyone approached her.

It was still a long road ahead for her, Snips knew, especially since there were times Ace had to wake her up from a nightmare, and she had to call Sam to make sure he was okay. Sam always took the calls, no matter what the hour, no matter if he was on call, and stayed on long enough to assure Snips that he was fine and they were safe. But those calls were getting farther and farther between. And it helped to have a guardian sleep right beside her to offer his comfort in the form of a living heater.

Everything was looking up for this small team as they continued on with summer break, enjoying get-togethers and sometimes going for a ride-a-long with other teams, offering input when asked and seeing how things played out. Ace was there, of course, playing his role as the SRU mascot with great dignity. His slow wagging tail and bright smile was a source of fun in a time of great stress. So things were definitely building up.

All in all, not a bad ending.

**I couldn't help but add a dog in here. Dogs are awesome, and they are seriously awesome therapeutic animals. We actually have a day where our university brings in puppies so college students can go and relax around them. Case in point: dogs can heal pretty much everything. **

**Please review!**


End file.
